Role of Self-Determination in Health and Wellness: A qualitative study with Indigenous youth health leaders across Canada

Abstract

This work centers the voices of Indigenous young people to explore how they are defining and enacting self-determination, and how these expressions of self-determination influence the wellness of these young people and their communities. Thematic analysis was used to analyze 15 interviews with Indigenous young people about how they understood wellness in the context of their community work. Interview transcripts were analyzed to understand how young people conceptualized and enacted self-determination and its relationship to wellness, and to identify underlying connections to Indigenous self-determination theory. Results indicate that Indigenous young people define and enact self-determination through traditional healing and embracing cultural wellness practices; through sharing lived experience and meeting people where they are at; and. through community inclusion and intuitive practice.  Implications for researchers, policymakers, and care providers who work with Indigenous young people are considered.