Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Background: The Researching Health in Ontario Communities (RHOC) and Five Views on a Journey projects used a mobile laboratory to visit several different communities to conduct community-identified research on issues related to mental health, substance use, and violence (MSV). As part of these projects, in-depth interviews were conducted with people who had experienced MSV as well as family members of people with MSV issues to examine their experiences coping with and seeking help for MSV issues. This presentation will focus on the in-depth interviews in two First Nations (FN) communities. Methods: A qualitative analysis of 109 interviews from RHOC and Five Views projects will identify how strengths and resilience resources affected the process of recovery for individuals with lived experiences of mental health and substance use. Using an inductive and iterative approach, emergent themes related to strengths, resilience resources, and recovery processes will be identified by two independent researchers, with analysis conducted separately for men and women. Results: Preliminary results from one community suggest that helpful mental health supports came from the local community health services and methadone clinic as well as Elders and probation officers. When seeking help, participants hoped to achieve sobriety, healing, wellness, freedom, being a better parent, and better coping skills for their substance use and mental health issues. Participants indicated that having children, access to methadone treatment, and distancing from stressors and substance use played a big role in their recovery. Although preliminary results were shared with the communities, the present analyses will help to bring greater depth of understanding of how various strengths and supports play a role in the process. The findings will also help develop theories regarding buffering effects of strengths and resilience, based on similarities and differences in the two communities.