Illuminating Indigenous health care provider stories through forum theater

Abstract

Learning about the historical and current context of Indigenous peoples’ lives and building campus communities that value cultural safety remains at the heart of the Canadian educational agenda and have been enacted as priorities in the Manitoba Collaborative Indigenous Education Blueprint. A participatory approach informed by forum theater and Indigenous sharing circles involving collaboration between Indigenous and non-Indigenous health care professionals ( n = 8) was employed to explore the above priorities. Through the workshop activities, vignettes were created and performed to an audience of students and educators ( n = 7). The findings emerging from the workshop illuminated that Indigenous people in nursing and higher education face challenges with negotiating their identity, lateral violence and struggle to find safe spaces and people due to tokenism and a paucity of physical spaces dedicated to Indigenous students. This study contributed to provoking a greater understanding of Indigenous experiences in higher education and advancing reconciliation.

Indigenous Women’s Experiences of Lateral Violence: A Systematic Literature Review

“…One of the reported outcomes of this workshop was an increased awareness of lateral violence forms, including recognition of dual roles: (a) personal victimization and (b) ownership of inflicting lateral violence on others ( Clark et al, 2017c ). In contrast, research conducted in Manitoba, Canada, reported that lateral microaggressions (i.e., a stressor that is a subtle form of discrimination negatively impacting racialized and marginalized peoples [ Lui & Quezada, 2019 ]) were not always acknowledged when witnessed ( Van Bewer et al, 2021 ). Such discoveries prompted the Canadian-based researchers to recommend lateral violence awareness initiatives in their discussion.…”

“… Mellor (2004) has described defensive coping with racism to include self-protecting and survival responses such as withdrawal, avoidance, cognitive reinterpretation, and denial. To address this challenge respectfully and sensitively, researchers offered confidentiality through pseudonyms for participants to promote open and honest responses ( Bennett, 2014 ; Clark, 2015 ; Clark et al, 2016 , 2017a ; Stoor et al, 2019 ; Van Bewer et al, 2021 ). In addition to this ethical and moral consideration, the willingness and bravery of participants to openly discuss the issue was commendable and acknowledged by the authors of reviewed studies (e.g., Clark et al, 2017c ).…”

“…It is conceivable that institutional homogenization of Indigenous Peoples possibly impacts lateral violence beyond the education sector. Other researchers found evidence of lateral violence occurring within institutions in the health sector (Monchalin et al, 2020;Van Bewer et al, 2021). Additionally, scarcity effects from limited governmental resources were discussed as playing an impactful role in lateral violence (Clark et al, 2016).…”

Trauma and survivance: The impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic on Indigenous nursing students

“…Research on the effects of the COVID‐19 pandemic on Indigenous nursing students is lacking. However, even before the pandemic, Indigenous nursing students experienced a host of challenges including racism and lack of cultural safety (Van Bewer et al, 2021); difficulties managing competing responsibilities (Taylor et al, 2019); higher attrition rates (Gregory & Barsky, 2007); and decreased readiness for practice (Rohatinsky et al, 2018). As they are forced to navigate through new systems resulting from the COVID‐19 pandemic, the inequities experienced by Indigenous students may be amplified further complicating their educational experiences.…”

Dialoguing With Images: An Expressive Arts Method for Health Research

“…The adoption of ABR in health research has occurred more recently, but is undergoing a prolific expansion ( Boydell et al, 2016 ; Fraser & al Sayah, 2011 ). ABR is conducted within specific genres, which have previously been classified into three distinct categories: the visual arts (drawing, photovoice, photographs, photo-elicitation, painting, art installation, video/animation and film) ( Angell et al, 2015 ; Archibald et al, 2014 ; Creighton et al, 2017 ; Woodgate et al, 2014 ), literary arts (storytelling, creative writing and poetry) ( Fitzpatrick & Fitzpatrick, 2021 ; Rieger et al, 2018 ) and performance art (drama, dance and music) ( Boydell, 2011 ; dos Santos & Wagner, 2018 ; Van Bewer et al, 2021 ).…”