Bringing together Indigenous and Western approaches to brain wellness and mental health : not only the what but the way
department or school: Medicine, Faculty of
department or school: Population and Public Health (SPPH), School of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Harding, Louise
issued: 2022-08-31T18:29:27Z
issued: 2022
related degree: Master of Science - MSc
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: This thesis explores meanings, priorities, and ethics surrounding brain wellness in an Indigenous health context in three stages: 1) an analysis of gaps in approaches to literature reviews, 2) a scoping review, and 3) a collaborative working group initiative. The design balanced knowledge generation and action (the what) with a focus on process and methods (the way) to bring together Indigenous and Western knowledges. In the process of preparing the search strategy for the scoping review, my gaps study yielded recommendations for mitigating challenges in locating literature about global Indigenous populations. The subsequent scoping review investigated the defining themes of academic research about global Indigenous peoples’ perspectives on the mind and brain. Within the 66 studies analysed, the most prevalent focus was on mental health and illness and the concepts of wellness, spirituality, holism and relationality were defining features. For the collaborative working group initiative, I established a 20-member working group that convened for three meetings with Elder-led sharing circles around the organizing questions: What is the meaning of brain wellness in an Indigenous health context? And, Does it include or is it included in mental health? To support cultural safety and appropriateness, the approach to the working group incorporated aspects of an Indigenous research paradigm alongside Western community engagement practices from neuroethics and patient-oriented research. I prepared a reflective summary of the meeting content that highlighted the need to reaffirm holistic conceptualizations of brain wellness and mental health, integrate Indigenous and Western healing approaches, pursue systems- and community-level changes to overcome the continuing health impacts of racism and colonization, and regain connections with culture and spirit. Outcomes from the group are new partnerships in research and a national research strategy for the brain sciences, a public co…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/82635
note: BRINGING TOGETHER INDIGENOUS AND WESTERN APPROACHES TO BRAIN WELLNESS AND MENTAL HEALTH: NOT ONLY THE WHAT BUT THE WAY by Louise Harding B.Sc., The University of British Columbia, 2016 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Population and Public Health) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) August 2022 © Louise Harding, 2022 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, the thesis entitled: Bringing Together Indigenous and Western Approaches to Brain Wellness and Mental Health: Not Only the What but the Way submitted by Louise Harding in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Population and Public Health Examining Committee: Judy Illes, Professor, Department of Medicine, UBC Supervisor Malcolm King, Professor, Department of Community Health & Epidemiology, University of Saskatchewan Supervisory Committee Member Chris Lovato, Professor, School of Population and Public Health, UBC Supervisory Committee Member Sarah Henderson, Associate Professor, School of Population and Public Health, UBC Additional Examiner iii Abstract This thesis explores meanings, priorities, and ethics surrounding brain wellness in an Indigenous health context in three stages: 1) an analysis of gaps in approaches to literature reviews, 2) a scoping review, and 3) a collaborative working group initiative. The design balanced knowledge generation and action (the what) with a focus on process and methods (the way) to bring together Indigenous and Western knowledges. In the process of preparing the search strategy for the scoping review, my gaps study yielded recommendations for mitigating challenges in locating literature about global Indigenous populations. The subsequent scoping review investigated the defining themes of academic research about g…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2022-11
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0418551
language: eng
degree discipline: Population and Public Health
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: Illes, Judy
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/82635