Social Suffering: Indigenous Peoples’ Experiences of Accessing Mental Health and Substance Use Services

Victoria Smye, Annette J. Browne, Viviane Josewski (), Barbara Keith and William Mussell
Additional contact information
Victoria Smye: Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing, Western University, 1151 Richmond Street, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada
Annette J. Browne: School of Nursing, University of British Columbia, T201-2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 2B5, Canada
Viviane Josewski: School of Nursing, University of Northern British Columbia, 3333 University Way, Prince George, BC V2N 4Z9, Canada
Barbara Keith: Consultant, Burnaby, BC V5H 4E8, Canada
William Mussell: Sal’i’shan Institute, 800 Wellington Ave, Chilliwack, BC V2P 6H7, Canada

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 4, 1-16

Abstract: In this paper, we present findings from a qualitative study that explored Indigenous people’s experiences of mental health and addictions care in the context of an inner-city area in Western Canada. Using an ethnographic design, a total of 39 clients accessing 5 community-based mental health care agencies were interviewed, including 18 in-depth individual interviews and 4 focus groups. Health care providers also were interviewed (n = 24). Data analysis identified four intersecting themes: normalization of social suffering; re-creation of trauma; the challenge of reconciling constrained lives with harm reduction; and mitigating suffering through relational practice. The results highlight the complexities of experiences of accessing systems of care for Indigenous people marginalized by poverty and other forms of social inequity, and the potential harms that arise from inattention to the intersecting social context(s) of peoples’ lives. Service delivery that aims to address the mental health concerns of Indigenous people must be designed with awareness of, and responsiveness to, the impact of structural violence and social suffering on peoples’ lived realities. A relational policy and policy lens is key to alleviate patterns of social suffering and counter the harms that are unwittingly created when social suffering is normalized.

Keywords: Canada; social suffering; structural violence; relational practice; Indigenous health; equity; mental health; substance use; addiction (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/4/3288/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/4/3288/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:4:p:3288-:d:1067030

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().