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Community-based Suicide Prevention Research in Remote On-Reserve First Nations Communities

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Abstract

Suicide is a complex problem linked to genetic, environmental, psychological and community factors. For the Aboriginal population more specifically, loss of culture, history of traumatic events, individual, family and community factors may also play a role in suicidal behaviour. Of particular concern is the high rate of suicide among Canadian Aboriginal youth. While the need to develop interventions to reduce suicidal behaviour for First Nations on-reserve populations is evident, there may be an element of distrust of researchers by Aboriginal communities. Furthermore, research in mental health and specifically suicide is much more sensitive than studying medical illnesses like diabetes. Clearly, this issue requires a unique and insightful approach. While numerous suicide prevention/intervention plans and guidelines have been published specifically for work involving Aboriginal people, the literature lacks a comprehensive discussion of the methodological and logistical issues faced by research teams and Aboriginal communities attempting to develop culturally-grounded and community-specific suicide prevention and intervention strategies. This paper outlines the research process, key challenges and lessons learned in a collaborative University-First Nations suicide prevention project conducted with eight north-western Manitoba First Nations communities (Canada).

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Notes

  1. The term “Aboriginal” includes three distinctive groups in Canada: Indian, Métis and Inuit peoples (Constitution Act 1982; Statistics Canada 2003). The term “First Nations” refers to descendants of the original inhabitants of Canada, and is used in place of “Indian” which is a colonial term.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the other members of the Swampy Cree Suicide Prevention Team* who assisted with the development of the project and qualitative data collection. Funding for the project was provided by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Conflict of Interest

The authors have no financial relationship with the organization that sponsored the research and have full control of all primary data. We agree to allow the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction to review our data if requested.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

    Corinne A. Isaak, Laurence Y. Katz & Murray W. Enns

  2. Departments of Psychiatry, Community Health Sciences and Psychology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

    Jitender Sareen

  3. Cree Nation Tribal Health, Swampy Cree Tribal Council, The Pas, Manitoba, Canada

    Mike Campeau

  4. Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

    Brenda Elias

  5. Manitoba First Nations Centre for Aboriginal Health Research, Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

    Brenda Elias

  6. PZ432-771 Bannatyne Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3E 3N4, Canada

    Corinne A. Isaak

Authors
  1. Corinne A. Isaak
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  2. Mike Campeau
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  3. Laurence Y. Katz
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  4. Murray W. Enns
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  5. Brenda Elias
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  6. Jitender Sareen
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Consortia

Swampy Cree Suicide Prevention Team*

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Corinne A. Isaak.

Additional information

The Swampy Cree Suicide Prevention Team* (listed alphabetically)

is consist of the following: Shay-Lee Belik is affiliated to Departments of Psychiatry and Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Catherine Cook is affiliated to Department of Community Health Sciences, and Manitoba First Nations Centre for Aboriginal Health Research, Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Brian Cox is affiliated to Departments of Psychiatry, Community Health Sciences, and Psychology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Natalie Mota is affiliated to Departments of Psychiatry, and Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Garry Munro is affiliated to Cree Nation Tribal Health, Swampy Cree Tribal Council, The Pas, Manitoba, Canada.Briana Melia is affiliated to Department of Psychology, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. John O’Neil is affiliated to Department of Community Health Sciences, Manitoba First Nations Centre for Aboriginal Health Research, Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia.

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Isaak, C.A., Campeau, M., Katz, L.Y. et al. Community-based Suicide Prevention Research in Remote On-Reserve First Nations Communities. Int J Ment Health Addiction 8, 258–270 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-009-9250-0

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