Advancing Health Equity and Psychological Wellness in the Shadows of Colonialism: Reflections from Indigenous Psychology

Examining the inequities that continue to impede health equity and those who champion it, this book advances a new framework for global health and wellness based on Indigenous American psychology and culture. Examining the inequities that continue to impede health equity and those who champion it, this book advocates a new framework for global health and wellness based on Indigenous American psychology and culture. Throughout history, intergenerational detriments to health, including colonialism, environmental degradation, poverty, racism, unrestrained materialism, and violence, have impeded efforts to advance global health equity. The COVID-19 pandemic has only capitalized on these inequities and exposed considerable weaknesses in addressing collective, global health concerns.Using an Indigenous American framework, this book promotes a new understanding of how to reclaim and sustain health equity. An Indigenous paradigm views the natural world as inextricably connected and envisions a holistic model of health linked to egalitarian relationships with others and the environment. This book presents students and practitioners with a new method of addressing health equity—one which does not operate under the same cultural assumptions that created widespread inequities in the first place.