Sharing the Role of Aboriginal Traditional Culture in Healing from Addictions

We’re Listening!  Share Your Voice Until February 27, 2012!

How has Aboriginal culture helped you, or someone you know,
on the journey of healing from addictions?

WHAT WE’RE LISTENING FOR

1. Why is culture important to healing from addictions?
2. What cultural experiences help people heal from addictions?
3. How do these cultural experiences make a difference for individuals on their healing journeys?
4. Are there any concerns about identifying the benefits of cultural interventions for healing from addictions?
   

GET INSPIRED BY OTHERS’ STORIES

Jenny’s Story of Healing

Direct link to video on YouTube: http://youtu.be/jQeLLbDHGXU

Valerie’s Story of Healing

Direct link to video on YouTube: http://youtu.be/kxYWzsu60po

Sheena’s Story of Healing

Direct link to video on YouTube: http://youtu.be/l4x7EFDFGj8

WHAT OTHERS ACROSS SASKATCHEWAN HAVE STARTED TO SHARE

Click here to learn what people across Saskatchewan have started to share in the conversation.

SHARE YOUR VOICE IN ANY WAY YOU WANT!  CREATE A POEM, DRAW A PICTURE, MAKE A VIDEO, OR WRITE TO US!

• You can fill out a feedback form at http://tinyurl.com/InterventionConversation or at the bottom of this page
• You can respond to the you-tube videos on-line
• You can ask us to come to you and we can try to meet in person
• You can Skype Barb, the project coordinator, at her Skype name: Barb_cultureasintervention
• You can email your response to Barb at barb.fornssler@usask.ca
• You can join the conversation on Facebook at our page “Aboriginal Culture as Intervention“
• You can follow us on Twitter at Culture_Intervention or tweet us (@SharingTheRole)
• You can mail your response to: Aboriginal Culture as Intervention Project, Department of Sociology, University of Saskatchewan, 9 Campus Drive, 1109 Arts Building, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5A5
• You can host an event in your community and submit a group response.  Get in contact with us so we can  help.
• You can call us collect at 306.966.7894.  If we don’t answer please leave a message and we will return your call shortly.

When you submit your response, please let us know if you would or would not like your story to be shared with others.  If you want to share your response publicly, please also let us whether you want to share your name or not. 

We would also like to know a little bit about you, such as where you are from, the languages you speak, how you identify (your age, sex, ethnicity) or any other information you would like to share.  This includes a way to get in contact with you (telephone, email, mailing address).  Just share whatever makes sense to you!

BY SHARING YOUR VOICE, YOU WILL BE:

• Receiving a project offering in April, which will include a CD Rom with the collected stories of healing and other products that will help continue the conversation
• Providing inspiration to individuals on their healing journeys from addiction
• Participating in a provincial conversation about Aboriginal culture and healing
• Helping to shape addictions treatment and prevention options in Saskatchewan

By sharing your voice, you will entered into a draw for a Kodak Playsport ZX5 camcorder.  And if you join the Facebook conversation by liking our page, you will be entered twice!

PROJECT PARTNERS:

This community-based project is grounded in a commitment to bring together Indigenous traditional and Western knowledge in a shared space. Elders, researchers, cultural practitioners, students, individuals with lived experience, service providers, decision makers and others are all involved. The project draws from a proposal originally developed by the University of Saskatchewan and the National Native Addictions Partnership Foundation.

FUNDING:
Financial support has been provided by Heath Canada through the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health Drug Funding Treatment Program, the Office of the Research Chair in Substance Abuse at the University of Saskatchewan, and the Saskatchewan Team for Research and Evaluation of Addictions Treatment and Mental Health Services.

PROJECT PHASES:

• Phase I  January – March 31, 2012: Saskatchewan Community Consultation. The outcomes of the project will be shared in April, 2012.
• Phase II  Summer, 2012 forward: National Community Collaboration.

PROJECT GOAL:
To contribute to culturally relevant health policy and wellness program offerings for Aboriginal youth and adults in drug and alcohol treatment in Canada.

PROJECT OVERVIEW:
This project is a conversation to build collective understanding that is rooted in community and highlights the impact of Aboriginal culture as intervention for client wellness. The conversation is starting in Saskatchewan, and will grow nationally from there.

Phase I of this project – the community consultation – will promote a better understanding of how Aboriginal traditional culture is practiced and informs health interventions for alcohol and drug treatment programs. Phase II of the project – the national community collaboration – will continue to understand and move toward demonstrating how Aboriginal traditional culture is effective as a health intervention across the country.

This project responds to the renewal recommendations for the National Native Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program (NNADAP) and Youth Solvent Addiction Program (YSAP), outlined in Honouring Our Strengths: A Renewed Framework to Address Substance Use Issues Among First Nations People in Canada.  The framework is the result of a four-year community-driven review by the National Native Addictions Partnership Foundation (NNAPF), the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) and First Nations Inuit Health (FNIH) of Health Canada. The framework outlines a continuum of care in order to support strengthened community, regional, and national responses to substance use issues.  This project will help establish a way to document the effectiveness of cultural interventions in alcohol and drug treatment programs.  

NEWS RELEASE:
Two University of Saskatchewan-Based Addictions Projects Address Aboriginal Culture in Healing – University of Saskatchewan News Release, January 6, 2012.  Cliquer pour la version francaise

“Health Canada is proud to be supporting these initiatives through the funding it provides to the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health for the project, “Strengthening Substance Abuse Treatment Systems,” said the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health.”

WRITTEN FEEDBACK FORM: