Mental Health Promotion With Aboriginal Youth

Abstract

Aboriginal youth in Canada are at disproportionate risk for a range of mental health concerns compared to their non-Aboriginal counterparts. To address this disparity, communities, researchers and policymakers have called for culturally relevant prevention and intervention programming to mitigate risk and promote well-being. A number of promising initiatives have been developed that are grounded in culture. The goal of these programs is to maximize the protective influence of multiple facets of culture in youth’s lives, such as cultural identity, connectedness, and engagement in traditional practices. One such program is The Fourth R: Uniting Our Nations, a strengths-based, culturally relevant program delivered to Aboriginal youth in Canadian schools. This chapter outlines the rationale for promoting such programming with Aboriginal youth. We describe the development and evaluation of the Uniting Our Nations program. We also highlight the importance of authentic partnerships and committing to a time frame that is sufficient for this work.