Digital stories as a tool for health promotion and youth engagement

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To provide opportunities for intergenerational knowledge sharing for healthy lifestyles; to facilitate youth and Elder mentorship; and to increase the self-esteem of youth by celebrating identity, cultural practices and community connection through the creation and sharing of digital stories.PARTICIPANTS: A youth research team (8 youth) aged 13-25, youth participants (60 core participants and 170 workshop participants) and Elders (14) from First Nations communities. SETTING:The project was conducted with participants from several communities on Vancouver Island through on-site workshops and presentations.INTERVENTION: Youth and Elders were invited to a 3-day digital story workshop consisting of knowledge-sharing sessions by Elders and digital story training by the youth research team. Workshop attendees returned to their communities to develop stories. The group re-convened at the university to create digital stories focused on community connections, family histories and healthy lifestyles. During the following year the research team delivered instructional sessions in communities on the digital story process. OUTCOMES:The youth involved reported increased pride in community as well as new or enhanced relationships with Elders. CONCLUSIONS:The digital stories method facilitated intergenerational interactions and engaged community members in creating a digital representation of healthy lifestyles. The process itself is an intervention, as it affords critical reflection on historical, cultural and spiritual ideas of health and what it means to be healthy in an Aboriginal community. It is a particularly relevant health promotion tool in First Nations communities with strong oral history traditions.KEY WORDS: Health promotion; community based participatory research; indigenous population group; adolescent; digital story La traduction du résumé se trouve à la fin de l'article.

Can digital stories go where palliative care research has never gone before? A descriptive qualitative study exploring the application of an emerging public health research method in an indigenous palliative care context

“…The negative comments participants offered suggested more than a frustration with a lack of information about the workshop. In line with other Indigenous groups [ 32 , 33 ], the participant who indicated a preference for a meeting in order to discover our expectations and goals for the workshop was expressing the importance of oral, face-to-face communication, which Māori term ‘kanohi ki te kanohi’. It relates not just to physical presence but to a ‘person’s credibility in words, actions, or intentions’ [ 34 ].…”

“…DST offers marginalised groups a means for expressing alternative voices that can be absent or misrepresented by mainstream discourse. One barrier to their representation is access to and training in the technology necessary to create digital stories [ 33 ]. Therefore, providing technical support for Indigenous groups should be emphasised, when required.…”

“…Therefore, providing technical support for Indigenous groups should be emphasised, when required. Fletcher et al made use of an intergenerational trade-off of skills between Canadian Aboriginal elders and youth to aid story-making [ 33 ]. The elders taught the youth about traditional topics such as medicinal plants and cleansing rituals.…”

Raising Awareness and Addressing Elder Abuse in the LGBT Community: An Intergenerational Arts Project

“…This problem-based learning in alternative, nonpedagogical spaces can be viewed as particularly important to our youth and elder participants, many of whom were bullied or otherwise marginalized in their previous learning situations or spent periods of time out of school. Fletcher and Mullett (2016), among others (Koh, 2013), have spoken to the particular effectiveness of digital art making in supporting the engagement and health of youth. As was the case with other digital projects-such as The Framing Safety Project, in which women who have been abused educated others through public displays of photo narratives (Frohmann, 2010)-we hoped to offer an alternative to more traditional notions of language and literacy education.…”

A scoping review protocol on social participation of indigenous elders, intergenerational solidarity and their influence on individual and community wellness

“… 46 47 However, these studies did not provide information about the benefits of elders’ contribution to wellness. Even though other studies described the involvement of indigenous elders in their community 48 49 and of grandparents with their grandchildren, 50 51 a detailed description of elders’ social participation and intergenerational solidarity is needed, including dimensions of social participation, that is, knowledge production and use, communication, interpersonal interactions and relationships, work and volunteering, domestic life, community, social and civic life. It is also important to have a better understanding of environmental factors such as politics, systems and services development in health, education and social services, which could act as facilitators or barriers to elders’ social participation and intergenerational solidarity.…”