Holistic Indigenous Mental Health and Wellness: Transforming Health Care Strengths and Solutions

Indigenous peoples with serious mental illness face unique health care barriers due to racism, oppression, and intergenerational trauma of residential school and child welfare systems. Indigenous mental health is complex; research shows that challenges of cultural identity, food insecurity, environmental health, career, education, culture clash between biomedicine and Indigenous healing, and failure of Canada's health policy are mediating factors. Currently there are thousands of Indigenous youth and adults searching for healing, often stuck in cycles of mental health crisis that include lack of mental health service, extreme addictive behaviours, severe anxiety and depression, and chronic suicidality. Current mental health services focus on crisis and short term mental health programs; this network will move the focus to holistic culturally-based interventions that prevent illness and strengthen individuals' chances of successful wellness. There is a lack of national research networking among academics and communities in Indigenous health generally and specifically in holistic Indigenous mental health. The team will develop a cultural evidence-based Indigenous research network to improve mental wellness by generating data that shows that illness and crisis can be prevented with traditional knowledges, cultural safety, and Indigenous science, when applied to health systems. There are 6 research themes: Cultural safety; Indigenous holistic prevention and early intervention; Land based and planetary health solutions; Healing from trauma and reducing addictions; Enhancing wellbeing and eliminating suicide; and Translating Indigenous knowledges data to practice and policy. An Elders steering committees will govern the network. An Indigenous knowledges framework for mental health service and policy will be developed and results will have national and international impact for future generations toward ending Indigenous mental illness.