Developing culturally grounded methods for understanding Indigenous children's mental health

Developing culturally grounded methods for understanding Indigenous children’s mental health

For Indigenous (i.e., First Nations, Metis, and Inuit) children in Canada, the need for early childhood investment is pronounced. Nurturing the healthy development of Indigenous children is complex, requiring the weaving together of community-led innovation and scientific research, as well as the fundamental recognition that Indigenous peoples and communities have the knowledge that is needed to improve the health status of their own children. Moreover, successful implementation of early childhood programming requires assessment, screening, and evaluation tools that are grounded in community and cultural understandings of mental health. This project builds on a partnership between the Early Years Program and academic researchers. Early Years Programming has been co-created by the Martin Family Initiative alongside Indigenous communities across Canada with the intent of unleashing the potential that all children are born with. Working in partnership with Early Years programming in Alberta, the Yukon, and Nunavut, the objectives of this project are twofold: (1) to examine factors associated with successful implementation of Early Years programming in Indigenous communities, to help lay the foundation for early childhood mental health; and (2) to co-create tools to evaluate early childhood program implementation in ways that centralize Indigenous community priorities related to early childhood mental health.