Centering Indigenous Knowledges and Worldviews: Applying the Indigenist Ecological Systems Model to Youth Mental Health and Wellness Research and Programs

Victoria M. O’Keefe, Jillian Fish, Tara L. Maudrie, Amanda M. Hunter, Hariata G. Tai Rakena, Jessica Saniġaq Ullrich, Carrie Clifford, Allison Crawford, Teresa Brockie, Melissa Walls, Emily E. Haroz, Mary Cwik, Nancy Rumbaugh Whitesell and Allison Barlow
Additional contact information
Victoria M. O’Keefe: Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health, Department of International Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA
Jillian Fish: Center for Care Delivery and Outcomes Research, Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Health Care System, Minneapolis, MN 55417, USA
Tara L. Maudrie: Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health, Department of International Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA
Amanda M. Hunter: Center for Health Equity Research, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, USA
Hariata G. Tai Rakena: Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health, Department of International Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA
Jessica Saniġaq Ullrich: School of Social Work, University of Alaska Anchorage, Anchorage, AK 99508, USA
Carrie Clifford: Department of Psychology, University of Otago, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand
Allison Crawford: Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5G 1X5, Canada
Teresa Brockie: School of Nursing, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA
Melissa Walls: Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health, Department of International Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA
Emily E. Haroz: Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health, Department of International Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA
Mary Cwik: Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health, Department of International Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA
Nancy Rumbaugh Whitesell: Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health, Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA
Allison Barlow: Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health, Department of International Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 10, 1-15

Abstract: Globally, Indigenous communities, leaders, mental health providers, and scholars have called for strengths-based approaches to mental health that align with Indigenous and holistic concepts of health and wellness. We applied the Indigenist Ecological Systems Model to strengths-based case examples of Indigenous youth mental health and wellness work occurring in CANZUS (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and United States). The case examples include research, community-led programs, and national advocacy. Indigenous youth development and well-being occur through strengths-based relationships across interconnected environmental levels. This approach promotes Indigenous youth and communities considering complete ecologies of Indigenous youth to foster their whole health, including mental health. Future research and programming will benefit from understanding and identifying common, strengths-based solutions beyond narrow intervention targets. This approach not only promotes Indigenous youth health and mental health, but ripples out across the entire ecosystem to promote community well-being.

Keywords: Indigenous peoples; well-being; culture; mental health; Indigenous health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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