Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

Prior to settler contact, Indigenous peoples practiced traditional healing methods that were embedded in ceremony and other culturally appropriate means. Today, in the wake of colonization, there is an unequal distribution of mental health services for individuals who reside in Ontario's rural, remote, and air access communities. These individuals also face increased mental health challenges for a variety of reasons including; geographic isolation, cross-generational impacts from colonization, discrimination, marginalization, and economic and social conditions that can negatively influence individuals and whole communities. Many First Nations communities across Canada are taking innovative and effective measures to address the mental wellness of members within their communities through community and family-based programs that offer local and culturally relevant approaches to wellness and resilience. Through the use of an Indigenous research paradigm, this project aims to shed light on the Weeneebayko Area Health Authority's (WAHA) mental health system's response to MHA needs within the James and Hudson Bay regions for young adults aged 18 to 29. This project will incorporate a mixed-methods design. The three objectives of this work include: 1) Describing WAHA physician perspectives on the MHA care of patients who have been given a Form 1; 2) Determining the rates of Emergency Department (ED) visits for young adults in WAHA who have experienced a Form 1; and 3) Documenting the experiencing of providing MHA care to young adults from the perspectives of front-line workers who offer in-community MHA care and services.