Ovarian Cancer Equity, Access, & Navigation (OCEAN)

This project looks at how ovarian cancer prevention can be offered in ways that are equitable, culturally safe, and based on informed choice, particularly for Indigenous women. Ovarian cancer affects about 3,000 people in Canada each year, and survival rates remain low. One effective prevention option is opportunistic salpingectomy (OS), the removal of the fallopian tubes, which can significantly reduce the risk of ovarian cancer.

At the same time, conversations about OS must be handled with care. For Indigenous Peoples, discussions about sterilization are deeply connected to medical violence, including forced and coerced sterilization in Canada and ongoing experiences of Indigenous-specific racism in health care. This research brings together Indigenous clinical leaders, health system partners, and Indigenous leadership to ensure ovarian cancer prevention is approached with respect, accountability, and trust. Guided by a Two-Eyed Seeing approach, the project brings together Western clinical expertise (Dr. Gillian Hanley) and Indigenous expertise (Dr. Brittany Bingham) to support prevention pathways that centre consent, cultural safety, and relational care.

Ovarian Cancer Equity, Access, and Navigation (OCEAN) is Aim 2 of the broader ovarian cancer prevention project and is led by the Indigenous Equity Lab. OCEAN focuses on creating the conditions for culturally safe, trauma-informed, and Indigenous-led navigation of ovarian cancer prevention. This work centres Indigenous sovereignty and reproductive justice. OCEAN asks deeper, foundational questions: How are conversations about ovarian cancer prevention happening and what does access look like? What does informed, culturally safe choice truly look like for Indigenous patients?

Guided by an Indigenous Guiding Group of Indigenous physicians, midwives, Elders, birth workers, and reproductive health leaders, OCEAN works alongside communities and clinicians to identify barriers to equitable access and to co-develop practical tools that support respectful, consent-based conversations about ovarian cancer prevention. Through in-depth interviews and focus groups with reproductive health-care providers, followed by Indigenous-led gatherings, OCEAN will co-create a culturally safe clinical guide for ovarian cancer prevention. This guide explicitly addresses historical harms, systemic racism, and the need to build trust within care relationships.

Together, the broader project and OCEAN aim to support ovarian cancer prevention that is not only clinically effective, but ethical, relational, and Indigenous-led—ensuring access to care while upholding Indigenous peoples’ bodily autonomy, safety, and self-determination.

OCEAN is funded by the Canadian Cancer Society.