Honouring Our Strengths: A Renewed Framework to Address Substance Use Issues Among First Nations People in Canada (HOS)
A foundational framework that
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- moves from focusing on deficits to focusing on strengths;
- draws from Indigenous Knowledge based on the belief that the Creator gave us everything we need to live a good life;
- guides the design, coordination, and delivery of services at all levels of the system to support strengthened community, regional and national responses to substance use and addictions issues;
- provides direction and identifies opportunities to ensure that we have access to appropriate, culturally-relevant services and supports based on needs along our healing journey;
- promotes community development that prioritizes mental health and well-being and relies upon community and cultural strengths; and
- recognizes that responsibility for a strengthened system of care includes individual responsibility for managing one’s own health, communal responsibility among First Nations people and a system-wide responsibility that rests with individuals, organizations, government departments and other partners.
Indigenous Wellness Framework (IWF)
A foundation framework that
- was developed by Elders and Knowledge Keepers who shared their understanding of what wellness is, from an Indigenous point of view;
- identified four kinds of wellness: spiritual, emotional, mental and physical;
- this balance is enriched as we find Hope, Belonging, Meaning and Purpose in our lives; Hope for the future, a sense of Belonging, that we understand our lives have Meaning and that we have found our Purpose in life.
- provides tangible ways we can connect with our culture and wellness
Examples:
- We can connect spiritually to culture by offering prayer or participating in a ceremony.
- We can connect emotionally to culture by participating in a community event.
First Nations Mental Wellness Continuum (FNMWC)
A foundational framework that
- outlines a wellness approach that is grounded in culture;
- is based on the idea that we all have a responsibility to support wellness;
- identifies ways to enhance service coordination by different health systems with community engagement to support delivery of culturally-safe services;
- supports a culturally-relevant health system for First Nations including governance, research, workforce development, change and risk management, self-determination, and performance measurement;
- provides continuum of care, attending to wellness through all stages of life, and
- attends to the Indigenous social determinants of health, i.e., education, housing, land and resources, language, heritage, culture, economic development, etc.
