Pathways to mental wellness for Indigenous boys and men: Community-led and land-based programs in the Canadian North, has been funded by the Movember Foundation’s Canadian Mental Health Initiative. This grant will provide $3 million over three years (2015-2018) to a team of circumpolar health stakeholders that includes Indigenous organizations, health system partners, and researchers from Canada, Finland, Greenland, Norway, and Sweden. This funding will support Inuit and First Nations community organizations in northern Canada to develop, adapt, deliver, and evaluate land-based mental health programs.

Our team recognizes that Indigenous communities across Canada and internationally are leaders in the development of innovative, culture-specific mental health and suicide prevention initiatives. This project will build on the knowledge and capacity that communities already have by focusing on existing and new programs that integrate land-based activities with mental health care. We aim to improve the mental health of Indigenous boys and men by targeting factors that promote mental wellness and protect against suicide risk, including cultural identity, personal agency, social support, connection to positive role models, and a sense of community belonging.

This project is being co-led by Gwen Healey, from the Qaujigiartiit Health Research Centre in Iqaluit, Nunavut, and Dr. Michael Jong from Labrador Grenfell Regional Health Authority and Memorial University. This program will be one of the six interventions implemented in communities in Nunavut, Northwest Territories, and Yukon.

With the generous support of the Movember Foundation, our objective is to implement and evaluate community-based initiatives, which specifically target Indigenous boys and men. Our aim is to promote mental wellness among Indigenous boys and men with culture-specific, community-led interventions, and over the long-term, promote wellness and reduce suicide rates across the Canadian North.

Our project sites also include team members from the following organizations:

  • Labrador Grenfell Regional Health Authority (Newfoundland and Labrador)

  • Qaujigiartiit Health Research Centre (Nunavut)

  • Nunatsiavut Government (Newfoundland and Labrador)

  • Northern Integrated Cultures with the Environment (Northwest Territories)

  • Inuvialuit Regional Corporation (Northwest Territories)

  • Kwanlin Dün First Nation (Yukon)

  • Institute for Circumpolar Health Research (Northwest Territories)

Our team also includes advisors, clinicians, and researchers from Canadian and other circumpolar institutions including:

  • Labrador Institute of Memorial University

  • Queen’s University

  • McMaster University

  • Centre for Health Research in Greenland

  • National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark

  • Utsjoki Health Care Centre (Finland)

  • Arctic University of Norway

  • Sami National Centre for Mental Health (Sweden)

Our project report card is also available on the Movember’s website.

FROM MOVEMBER’s PRESS RELEASE:

The Movember Foundation is proud to announce $7.9 million in funding for men’s mental health programs, through its Canadian Mental Health Initiative.

The funding comes from the Foundation’s request for collaborative project ideas aimed at improving the mental health and wellbeing of men and boys. Three large-scale collaborative team grants with a focus on diverse populations have been awarded funding. The funding is part of the Foundation’s continued commitment to men’s mental health. Together with this initiative the Movember Foundation has invested over $22.6 million into 27 men’s mental health and well-being projects across Canada.

For more information about Movember, visit their website: http://ca.movember.com/