Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

Inuit communities in Canada are extraordinarily resilient. Nevertheless, intergenerational trauma stemming from historical and ongoing colonialism continues to impact the mental health of Inuit youth in Nunavut, with suicide rates six to eleven times the national average. To address this crisis, Inuit communities have called for resilience-focused interventions which build on existing cultural philosophies and strengths. Preliminary studies suggest that a peer-led mentoring program may be a culturally suitable intervention for Inuit youth suicide, however such a model has yet to be designed and/or tested. This study will draw from a pre-existing peer-led intervention model ("Beating Diabetes Together" - BDT) which aimed to improve health behaviours among diabetic Indigenous youth, and adapt it for a mental health context. The study will follow a BDT stepwise approach to peer-mentorship, wherein knowledge experts train youth, who in turn mentor younger children. Researchers will assist Elders in training adolescent peer-mentors on resilience and wellness promotion. Workshops will be hosted where peer-mentors transmit this knowledge to at-risk youth through cultural activities. The proposed study will work with Elders and Inuit youth to plan resilience-focused, mentorship-based workshops. Interviews will be conducted to inquire about the personal and community significance of youth-to-youth mentorship, and to gather ideas for activities they believe to enhance resilience. A Herringbone stitch model will be used to analyze transcriptions through the lens of Inuit traditional knowledge (Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit). It is hoped that findings from this study will give rise to an effective, culturally-driven, mental health program to combat the suicide crisis in Nunavut.