Digital Storytelling as a Patient Engagement and Research Approach With First Nations Women: How the Medicine Wheel Guided Our Debwewin Journey

Abstract

When research is conducted from a Western paradigm alone, the findings and resultant policies often ignore Indigenous peoples’ health practices and fail to align with their health care priorities. There is a need for decolonized approaches within qualitative health research to collaboratively identify intersecting reasons behind troubling health inequities and to integrate Indigenous knowledge into current health care services. We engaged with First Nations women to explore to what extent digital storytelling could be a feasible, acceptable, and meaningful research method to inform culturally safe health care services. This novel approach created a culturally safe and ethical space for authentic patient engagement. Our conversations were profound and provided deep insights into First Nations women’s experiences with breast cancer and guidance for our future qualitative study. We found that the digital storytelling workshop facilitated a Debwewin journey, which is an ancient Anishinabe way of knowing that connects one’s heart knowledge and mind knowledge.

Access to Cardiovascular Care for Indigenous Peoples in Canada: A Rapid Review

“…Improving comprehensive access to cardiac care for Indigenous peoples in Canada requires recognition of the central role of traditional medicine and engagement with Indigenous peoples communities to explore how cardiac healthcare services can become not only more accessible but also more ethical and culturally safe. 48 Indigenous peoples approach health by incorporating emotional and spiritual health, in addition to physical and mental health, and considering one’s environment as being interconnected with health. Thus, healthcare pracitioners must listen and respond to these holistic approaches in order to best support Indigenous peoples’ cardiovascular health and bridge the gap between Western and indigenous medicine.…”

“…• Increased recognition of the central role of traditional medicine: Improving comprehensive access to cardiac care for Indigenous Peoples in Canada will require the recognition of the central role of traditional medicine and the engagement with Indigenous Peoples communities to explore how cardiac health care services cannot only become more accessible but also more ethical and culturally safe (48). Indigenous Peoples approach health by incorporating emotional and spiritual health in addition to physical and mental health and considering one's environment as interconnected.…”

Feasibility and acceptability of developing a culturally and linguistically congruent digital storytelling intervention among Vietnamese and Korean American mothers of HPV-vaccinated children

“…In this study, we assessed the feasibility and acceptability of a digital storytelling (DST) intervention, and explored a deeper understanding of VA and KA mothers' rich personal experiences, meaning, attitudes, perceptions, and cultural views about their child HPV vaccination during three 2-day group-based DST workshops among VA and KA immigrant mothers with vaccinated children against HPV. Although prior studies have included African American, indigenous, and Latina women, examined the feasibility, acceptability of DST and its impact among cancer survivors, diabetic patients, or patients experiencing stress [29][30][31][32][33][34], there was a lack of DST related studies targeting Vietnamese and Korean immigrants and no DST has used as interventions to address the persistent HPV vaccination gap among VA and KA immigrant mothers' children. Our research is the rst one assessing the feasibly and acceptability of DST workshops among VA and KA mothers of HPV-vaccinated children.…”

Bringing research alive through stories: reflecting on research storytelling as a public engagement method

“…As oral traditions of passing on knowledge and making meaning through stories are prevalent in many Indigenous cultures (Christensen, 2012;Datta, 2018;Drawson et al, 2017;Pualani Louis, 2007), storytelling is particularly common in engaging with Indigenous communities (Geia et al, 2013), including to explain abstract concepts in a fun way (Goulão, 2018). Many have recognised storytelling as part of wider efforts at decolonising research methodologies and epistemologies (for example, Datta, 2018;Geia et al, 2013;Pualani Louis, 2007;Rieger et al, 2021), including in the digital realm (Cunsolo Willox et al, 2012). On the public engagement side, diverse accounts, especially from the natural sciences, detail using stories to promote engagement with science (for example, Bordenave, 2018;Cortes Arevalo et al, 2020;ElShafie, 2018;Olson, 2015).…”