Journal of Indigenous Wellbeing
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Tiaki Whānau Tiaki Ora: 1000 Māori Homes: The whānau initiative to build wellbeing and resilience to prevent suicide
Get PDFThis article provides an overview of the first year of the Tiaki Whānau - Tiaki Ora: 1000 Māori Homes programme (Tiaki Whānau – Tiaki Ora) delivered by Te Rau Ora Centre of Māori Suicide Prevention. Tiaki Whānau – Tiaki Ora provides a unique approach to support whānau to support each other, to raise their knowledge and awareness about suicide prevention and to develop protective factors that foster wellbeing and resilience, with specific self-help tools, and activities.It is the goal of Te Rau Ora to reach 1000 whānau homes with Tiaki Whānau - Tiaki Ora (Protecting families - Protecting wellbeing). Whānau Champions are recruited and trained to share toolkits (resources) directly into whānau homes. Support for Champions and evaluation are built into the programme. During 2018, Tiaki Whānau - Tiaki Ora was delivered in four regions across the North Island of Aotearoa, New Zealand. Three hundred and eighteen whānau (296 households) and 34 Whānau Champions enrolled in the programme representing a 93 percent target achievement for the first year.Indicative findings so far show that the Whānau Champions are effective in reaching whānau Māori and that the tools were beneficial in raising awareness in the home, building the capacity of whānau to strengthen their wellbeing and resilience in suicide prevention. Findings indicate a high level of whānau participation and ownership of Tiaki Whānau – Tiaki Ora. This appears to support the contention that the ‘by whānau for whānau’ approach, underscored by respectful information sharing and reciprocal transfer of knowledge, resonates strongly with whānau Māori
Whiti Te Rā: A guide to connecting Māori to traditional wellbeing pathways
Get PDFMāori health models, introduced in the 1980s, brought needed cultural worldviews to an otherwise monocultural health system. However, minimal changes have occurred. In mainstream practice, deeper cultural understandings and action-orientations of these models can be overlooked, to the detriment of Māori wellbeing. In particular, Māori cultural concepts such as mauri ora (an active state of wellbeing) and a secure cultural identity are notable core wellbeing pathways that need further exploration. Using a systematic narrative literature review, 36 papers identified pathways that used core cultural activities for Māori wellbeing. A thematic analysis produced six themes or pathways towards wellbeing for Māori – te reo Māori: Māori language, taiao: connection with the environment, wairua: Māori spiritual beliefs and practices, mahi-a-toi: Māori expressive art forms, take pū whānau: Māori relational values, and whakapapa: intergen-erational relationships. Forty experienced Māori psychologists analysed the themes and offered expert examples practice pathways for Māori wellbeing. The six themes and feedback is presented in a visual image Whiti Te Rā with instructions for Māori practitioners to guide whai ora Māori (Māori clients) to explore their level of knowledge and comfort, and active engagement with Māori pathways to wellbeing. The model has potential for mental health policy, future research, curriculum development, and synthesising Māori knowledge towards wellbeing pathways
Evaluating and measuring a health capability set to assess public health interventions in a Purépecha community in Mexico
Get PDFThe capability approach in general and the health capability paradigm, in particular, represent a framework to build health-related indicators that take into account the impact that health interventions can have on aspects of life, such as freedom and welfare, going beyond health. This study aims to show how health capabilities can be used to generate a measure of health-related quality of life through a case study carried out in the Indigenous Purépecha community of Cuanajo, México by considering five internal and external dimensions: (a) health; (b) health agency; (c) medical care and services; (d) community, and (e) material living conditions. Subjective and objective indicators were collected through an instrument applied to the adult population (n=171). The point allocation methodology was used to elicit their attached weights while the aggregation of indicators to evaluate health capabilities was done considering a weighted mean function together with the Alkire–Foster methodology. Differences in computed punctual weights between valued dimensions were almost negligible, and thus, aggregation was performed using equal weights but retaining three final indices due to incommensurability: subjective health capabilities, dwelling facilities, and income sufficiency. For this community, health agency, community, and dwelling facility health-related capabilities need to be expanded
Treasuring future generations: Māori and Hawaiian ancestral knowledge and the wellbeing of Indigenous children
Get PDFThis article examines ‘ōlelo no‘eau and whakataukī (ancestral proverbial sayings), for messages relating to the positioning of Māori and Hawaiian children and the relationship of that to traditional child-rearing practices. In doing so, the authors explore whakataukī and ‘ōlelo no‘eau as a means to bring forward knowledge gifted to us by our ancestors that can inform our contemporary experiences as Indigenous Peoples.
Critical elements for successful implementation of community based suicide prevention initiatives for Pacific Island people in Aotearoa New Zealand
Get PDFThis exploratory study set out to identify the critical elements to successfully implement community-based suicide prevention initiatives, within Pacific Island communities in Aotearoa New Zealand.Data was gathered from 17 community-based suicide prevention initiatives, led by and for Pacific Island people, over 24 months. The initiatives were funded by a national not-for-profit organisation, Le Va, as part of the Waka Hourua: national Māori and Pasifika suicide prevention programme.A fixed comparative non-experimental design was applied. The data was thematically analysed alongside a formal expert consensus approach. A hybrid approach to expert consensus was used, combining a Delphi method and a nominal group technique.Results indicated that seven elements are critical to successful community-based suicide prevention initiatives delivered for Pacific Island communities in Aotearoa New Zealand. The initiatives need to be based on the following elements: 1) culturally relevant, 2) family-centred, 3) clinically safe, 4) take a targeted approach, 5) sustainable, 6) organisationally competent, and 7) have trusted relationships.Identifying these critical elements for implementing community-based suicide prevention initiatives is significant progress for Pacific Island communities. It informs practice by defining an amalgam of collective efforts of ‘what works’ alongside clear and central tenants for effective implementation of suicide prevention initiatives. It is proposed that these critical elements could provide a potential investment framework to inform the funding and implementation of future suicide prevention policy, research and community initiatives
Editorial
Get PDFIt is a privilege to introduce this Suicide Prevention Issue: Journal of Indigenous Wellbeing: Te Mauri Pimatisiwin, of seven new papers and one poem. This is the second volume of work we have been able to facilitate for Indigenous Suicide Prevention. We are confident these will build on the 2017 volume, and most importantly extend the indigenous suicide prevention evidence base
History: A determinant of diabetes in an American Indian nation
Get PDFAmerican Indians and Alaska Natives are at an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes and are more likely than the general U.S. population to suffer from diabetes-related complications. Although the association among diet, physical activity, and diabetes are well established, the social determinants of health provide another explanation of the disproportionate risk of diabetes and diabetes-related disparities among American Indians. Few studies have examined other contributing factors, such as colonisation. In this study, a critical Indigenous framework that includes historical events and policies as primary social determinants to explain diabetes-related disparities within a contemporary American Indian/Alaska Native context was applied. Twenty-eight interviews were conducted with citizens of an American Indian nation to examine the relationship between local history and diabetes. Drawing from this data, a new framework is provided to understand the root causes of the diabetes epidemic that has meaningful application to public health.
Researching racism
Get PDFThe author of this article completed a PhD thesis that focussed on Indigenous male perceptions of racism. He has also published on racism and has delivered public seminars on racism. Throughout this, he realised that racism remains a topic that people still lack an understanding of, and this is partly because they do not receive information about it. They are unaware of how Indigenous people perceive racism and it how it impacts on them. This article is intended to provide people with an understanding of racism from the perspective of Indigenous people and provide people with an understanding of the issues involved in the research of racism. The first part of the article will not refer to academic texts for support as the aim of this part is to provide Indigenous perspectives, so readers have an opportunity to hear these perspectives
Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) of the Woodlands Cree and Denesuline Peoples of northern Saskatchewan, Canada: The land as teacher and healer
Get PDFThe purpose of this article is to explore and outline the Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) of First Nation peoples in northern Saskatchewan, Canada. TEK and Western science are increasingly combined for a fuller portrait and understanding of the natural world. However, more research is needed using Indigenous protocols, methodologies, methods, and languages for conceptual clarity. For the Woodlands Cree and Denesuline (Dene) peoples, the land is a giver of life and is both a teacher and healer as represented in this article