RESPOND: Culturally Responsive Digital Peer Support for Young Sámi persons with Depression

Description

The Sámi people are the indigenous community in Norway. As included in the Norwegian constitution and the Sámi Act, they have the right to preserve and evolve their language, culture, and way of life, and to receive healthcare from practitioners who are proficient in their language and understand their cultural practices. However, research suggests that Sámi people often face communication barriers and culturally insensitive care in the Norwegian healthcare system. Stigma surrounding mental health challenges and a cultural emphasis on resilience and self-management hinder Sámi people from seeking help.

Peer support is a form of social support that draws on the practical knowledge and ability to understand things in context, which comes from personal experience of having mental health challenges. Peer support is based on the philosophy that promotes self-management, empowerment, and freedom of choice where personal experience is the basis for organized support. There are several ways to organize support. Online peer support through social media can be a promising approach for addressing mental health challenges in the young Sámi community because it fosters a sense of understanding and value while being easily accessible.

In response, the RESPOND project aims to understand how to co-create a culturally safe, low-threshold digital peer support service, based on social media(s), for young Sámi living with mental health challenges such as depression. At this stage, we propose 3 research questions:

1. How do cultural contexts and motivations impact young Sámi's access, use, and engagement in peer support for depression via social media?

2. What are the preferences and safety concerns of young Sámi’s access, use, and engagement with peer support for depression via social media?

3. How can external researchers collaborate with the Sámi community to build a safe and efficient user forum and create a comprehensive research protocol?

Goals

The current stage of the project has 3 objectives:

a. User representative recruitment and network building under the advisory and assistance of SANKS

b. To explore cultural settings, motivations, and components of digital peer support via social media for young Sámi living with depression

c. To develop a full research protocol

Method

Participatory Design and the Two-Eyed Seeing approach are used to inform our practice through the lifespan of this project. We will conduct focus group discussions with 5-8 young Sámi representatives to explore their interests and inform the co-creation process. Data collection will occur through semi-structured interview guides. No private or sensitive information on person’s health and mental health conditions will be included.