Culture as Treatment: A Pathway toward Indigenous Health Equity

Autumn Asher BlackDeer

Abstract


In this paper, we report on the process by which health equity has historically been conceptualized from a western lens, continuing to leave behind Native Nations. We present how the historical context impacts the present day disparities experiences by Indigenous communities in the US. We conclude with examples of Indigenous culture as treatment as a pathway towards achieving Indigenous health equity.


Keywords


culture; Indigenous knowledge; Indigenous health equity

Full Text:

PDF

References


Allen, J., Rasmus, S. M., Fok, C. C. T., Charles, B., Henry, D., & Qungasvik Team. (2018). Multi-level cultural intervention for the prevention of suicide and alcohol use risk with Alaska native youth: A nonrandomized comparison of treatment intensity. Prevention Science, 19(2), 174–185. http://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-017-0798-9

Arias, E., Xu, J., Curtin, S., Bastian, B., & Tejada-Vera, B. (2021, November 9). Mortality profile of the non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native Population, 2019. National Vital Statistics Reports, 70(12). http://dx.doi.org/10.15620/cdc:110370

Asher BlackDeer, A., & Patterson Silver Wolf, D. A. (2020). Evidence mapping: Interventions for American Indian and Alaska Native youth mental health. Journal of Evidence-Based Social Work, 17(1), 49–62. https://doi.org/10.1080/26408066.2019.1624237

Barker, B., Goodman, A., & DeBeck, K. (2017). Reclaiming Indigenous identities: Culture as strength against suicide among Indigenous youth in Canada. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 108(2), e208–e210. https://doi.org/10.17269/CJPH.108.5754

Brady, M. (1995). Culture in treatment, culture as treatment. A critical appraisal of developments in addictions programs for Indigenous North Americans and Australians. Social Science & Medicine, 41(11), 1487–1498. https://doi.org/10.1016/0277-9536(95)00055-C

Echo-Hawk, A. (2019, August 7). Indigenous health equity. Urban Indian Health Institute. https://www.uihi.org/resources/indigenous-health-equity/

Espey, D. K., Jim, M. A., Cobb, N., Bartholomew, M., Becker, T., Haverkamp, D., & Plescia, M. (2014). Leading causes of death and all-cause mortality in American Indians and Alaska Natives. American Journal of Public Health, 104(S3), S303–S311. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2013.301798

Fiedeldey-Van Dijk, C., Rowan, M., Dell, C., Mushquash, C., Hopkins, C., Fornssler, B., Hall, L., Mykota, D., Farag, M., & Shea, B. (2017). Honoring Indigenous culture-as-intervention: Development and validity of the Native Wellness AssessmentTM. Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Use, 16(2), 181–218. https://doi.org/10.1080/15332640.2015.1119774

Gone, J. P. (2013). Redressing First Nations historical trauma: Theorizing mechanisms for Indigenous culture as mental health treatment. Transcultural Psychiatry, 50(5), 683–706. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363461513487669

Goodkind, J., LaNoue, M., Lee, C., Freeland, L., & Freund, R. (2012). Feasibility, acceptability, and initial findings from a community-based cultural mental health intervention for American Indian youth and their families. Journal of Community Psychology, 40(4), 381–405. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.20517

Hirchak, K. A., Nadeau, M., Vasquez, A., Hernandez-Vallant, A., Smith, K., Pham, C., Oliver, K. A., Baukol, P., Lizzy, K., Shaffer, R., Herron, J., Campbell, A. N. C., & Venner, K. L. (2022). Centering culture in the treatment of opioid use disorder with American Indian and Alaska Native communities: Contributions from a National Collaborative Board. American Journal of Community Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12620

Indian Health Service. (2018). Report on behavioral health, 2018 edition. https://www.ihs.gov/sites/dps/themes/responsive2017/display_objects/documents/IHS2018BehavioralHealth.pdf

Indian Health Service. (2020, August). IHS profile. https://www.ihs.gov/newsroom/factsheets/ihsprofile/

Jensen, A., & Lopez-Carmen, V. A. (2022). The “elephants in the room” in U.S. global health: Indigenous Nations and white settler colonialism. PLOS Global Public Health, 2(7), Article e0000719. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0000719

Listug-Lunde, L., Vogeltanz-Holm, N., & Collins, J. (2013). A cognitive-behavioral treatment for depression in rural American Indian middle school students. American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research, 20(1), 16–34. https://doi.org/10.5820/aian.2001.2013.16

Pomerville, A., & Gone, J. P. (2019). Indigenous culture-as-treatment in the era of evidence-based mental health practice. In C. Fleming & M. Manning (Eds.), Routledge handbook of Indigenous wellbeing (pp. 237–247). Routledge.

Snyder Act, 25 U.S.C. 13. (1921). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/COMPS-5302/pdf/COMPS-5302.pdf

Steinman, E. W. (2016). Decolonization not inclusion: Indigenous resistance to American settler colonialism. Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, 2(2), 219–236. https://doi.org/10.1177/2332649215615889

Warne, D., & Lajimodiere, D. (2015). American Indian health disparities: Psychosocial influences. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 9(10), 567–579. www.doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12198

Yamane, C. Y. E. W., & Helm, S. (2022). Indigenous culture-as-health: A systematized literature review. Journal of Prevention, 43(2), 167–190. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10935-022-00666-3




DOI: https://doi.org/10.15273/hpj.v3i1.11479

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2023 Autumn Asher BlackDeer

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.