It is a unique approach to wellness and it’s working.
The Indigenous Peoples’ Health Research Centre uses things like art and music to engage Aboriginal youth to get them feeling better about themselves.
The wellness approach is the focus of a three-day symposium in Regina featuring experts in the field from around the world.
It may sound a little far-fetched but the director of the centre, Jo-Anne Episkenew, says she has seen first-hand how something as simple as a puppet show can get young people talking about deep inner turmoil.
This can be helpful in the Aboriginal community where the teen suicide rate is roughly five times higher than the provincial average.
Episkenew says lectures don’t work but building hope does.
“Some of the kids have told us that it does make a difference, helping them to build self-esteem, helping them to know they have choices, so we want to take that focus to hopefully reducing suicide,” she says.
The health research centre has received a $500,000 grant for a three-year project aimed at reducing the high teen suicide rate among Aboriginal youth.
It will be working closely with the File Hills Tribal Council on the project.
Episkenew says today’s Aboriginal youth are carrying a lot of pain.
“You know, a lot of people come to this country and say, ‘Why don’t you guys just pull yourself up by your boot straps,’ but people are carrying generations of pain and fear,” she says.
The symposium wraps up with a free presentation at the Albert Scott Community Centre in Regina tomorrow night.
The Indigenous Peoples’ Health Research Centre is a joint venture of the First Nations University of Canada, the University of Regina and the University of Saskatchewan.