Andrea Lapp, Project Coordinator for the Centre for School Mental Health was among 11 speakers invited to present at the Network for Aboriginal Mental Health Research (NAMHR) Annual Meeting in Montreal, Quebec on Friday, August 25. Topics for the meeting and presentations included indigenizing mental health, cultural safety and reconciliation in mental health services, research on suicide prevention and mental health promotion, and indigenous approaches to well-being.
Lapp delivered an informative presentation on Mental Health First Aid – First Nations: Program Outcomes and Importance of Cultural Safety in Programming and Research where she covered the research logistics of the first national mental health promotion effort developed with First Nations and evaluated in this way.
Lapp commented, “The day was a very successful meeting of minds in Aboriginal Mental Health Research, with many interesting projects shared and to look out for in the future.” The following is an excerpt from her immediate thoughts following the meeting:
“Morning began with on the ground community driven interventions for suicide prevention and understanding Indigenous expression of pain. Audience questions and discussions developed around thinking at the systems level and making policy change. Dr. Amy Bombay presented on the foundation of First Nations-led neuroscience research and asked for thoughts and feedback on how to move forward in collecting biological specimen in a good way. Carol Hopkins from the Thunderbird Partnership Foundation presented the Indigenous Wellness Framework, highlighting the need for Hope, Belonging, Meaning, and Purpose, which Jim Dumont then spoke of through traditional Anishinaabe storytelling. Carol also shared the Native Wellness Assessment, a culturally competent instrument that is available for free on the Thunderbird Partnership Foundation Website. The Assessment measures the impact of culturally-based wellness services for First Nations people and is building a database of information on the importance of culture in wellness promotion programming for First Nations peoples. Throughout the day, most if not all, presentations spoke of two-eyed seeing as a research principal. One presenter, Dr. Anita Benoit, posed the question: is two eyed seeing an aspect of Indigenous Methodologies or a separate entity?”
For more information on the agenda for the 2017 NAMHR Annual Meeting, click here.
For more information on the Network for Aboriginal Mental Health Research, click here.
Want to learn more about Andrea’s presentation and the Mental Health First Aid First Nations initiative? Register now for the Centre for School Mental Health’s upcoming three-part webinar series, here.
