The role of sovereignty in Indigenous community‐based health interventions: A qualitative metasynthesis

Abstract

Indigenous peoples around the world suffer from health disparities attributed to a plethora of risk factors and social determinants of health stemming from colonialism and systemic oppression. Community‐based health interventions have been identified as a means for addressing and reducing Indigenous health disparities by allowing for Indigenous sovereignty to be respected and centered. However, sovereignty relating to Indigenous health and well‐being is underresearched. The present article explores the role of sovereignty in Indigenous community‐based health interventions. A qualitative metasynthesis was conducted among 14 primary research studies co‐authored by Indigenous people describing and evaluating Indigenous community‐based health interventions. Five conceptual themes emerged as aspects of sovereignty which benefit Indigenous health and well‐being outcomes: integration of culture; relocation of knowledge; connectedness; self‐actualization; and stewardship. Implications are discussed, with the goal of creating a decolonial framework rooted in Indigenous epistemologies and perspectives for how sovereignty impacts Indigenous health, as well as strengthening a clear need for further research on and praxis of sovereignty in Indigenous healthcare.

A reflection on qualitative methods activism: Advancing knowledge and expanding scientific practice.

“…New societies have emerged internationally to support the use of qualitative methods, for example, the Society for Qualitative Inquiry in Psychology , a section of Division 5 of the American Psychological Association (APA); Qualitative Methods in Psychology , a section of the British Psychological Society; the Association of European Qualitative Researchers in Psychology ; and the Japanese Association of Qualitative Psychology . Springing from many such societies, research labs, and community-based collaborations, the qualitative movement has developed as a global grassroots movement that is intertwined with critical, and indigenous approaches to methodology (e.g., Fine et al, 2021; Joseph, 2024; Wendt & Gone, 2012). The growing use of these methods across these contexts has led to their engagement within many subdisciplines in the field.…”

Situating the Nonprofit Industrial Complex

“…The competition imperative that pits agencies vying for public dollars against one another can "undermine relationships among those who must collaborate to ensure that community members can access a broad range of services that fit their needs" (Lavoie et al 2018, p. 7;Tang and Wang 2022). The fiduciary power of these settler-colonial public agencies interferes with "health sovereignty" (Million 2020, p. 398), as it constrains autonomy over culturally specific health interventions (Joseph 2023). Million (2020) contends that Western medical treatment "does not extend the supports necessary for lives still lived under siege" (pp.…”