Honouring lived experience wisdom: Healing and healing environments according to ‘family members’ in Indigenous-led alcohol harm reduction and culturally supportive housing

• Main Author: Brown, Meaghan
• Other Authors: Pauly, Bernie
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2023
• Subjects: indigenous; culture as healing; homelessness; alcohol; harm reduction; Canada; Thunderbird; First Nations
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1828/15336

Honouring lived experience wisdom: Defining healing and healing environments according to ‘family members’ in Indigenous-led alcohol harm reduction and culturally supportive housing’ illustrates a strengths-based story of ‘culture as healing’ (CAH) and decolonized harm reduction for seven Indigenous people with experiences of homelessness and significant alcohol-related harm. Based in a broader dual-site study on the design, implementation, and evaluation of Indigenous-led Managed Alcohol Programs (MAPs), this research responds to gaps in knowledge on the implementation and impacts of Indigenous-led MAPs and CAH models among primarily western MAPs in Canada. Based in five years of relationship with the Aboriginal Coalition to End Homelessness Society (ACEH), I explore healing perspectives and experiences of ‘family members’ (residents) of the ACEH Indigenous Alcohol Harm Reduction Residence Program (IAHRRP) and Culturally Supportive House (CSH), located on Lekwungen and W̱SÁNEĆ territory (Victoria, BC). Objectives of this study aim to identify practices, policies, and principles that are reflective of ‘healing’ and ‘healing environments’ according to family members. This qualitative collaborative study is guided by Indigenous methodological principles and community protocols developed in partnership with the ACEH and Canadian Managed Alcohol Program Study (CMAPS) as part of an Indigenous-western/Settler research partnership. In outlining the methodological approach to this project, I critically explore my position and role as a Settler student, researcher, and nurse in this partnership and in relation to community. I draw upon three interrelated conceptual frameworks to inform analysis in relation to healing and culture, alcohol, and housing: the First Nations Mental Wellness Continuum Framework (FNMWCF) (Assembly of First Nations (AFN), Thunderbird Partnership Foundation, & Health Canada, 2015), Definition of Indigenous Homelessness in Canada (Thistle, 2017), and the ACEH Dual Model of Housing Care ...