This pilot resources page is in progress with only open access materials so far.
The interdisciplinary scholarship and deep wisdom connecting culturally and regionally relevant physical activity to wellbeing is vast and wide, across the world. A project goal is to amplify this scholarship.
We wish to showcase the tremendous existing evidence base on the importance of these topics. We hope this will help connect, support, and inspire more of this work and also support grassroots programs and policies for these practices.
This resources page is a work in progress to this goal, currently sharing a small sample of this work. You are able to search by Categories like: Activity Type, Region, Where Activity Is Practiced (Land, Water, Ice/Snow). New tags and categories will be added as we grow this resources page.
Archives for this research will be shared on the Open Science Framework (OSF), coming soon.
We welcome your feedback about how these resources could be most useful at PHResonance@gmail.com
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Indigenous Health Research in Quebec: Changing the Landscape Through Relationship Building
Tahatikonhsontóntie’ Québec Network Environment for Indigenous Health Research
Sherri Bisset, Leila Qashu, Sonia Périllat-Amédée, Treena Delormier
As a response to the need for more supportive research environments for Indigenous health research, CIHR created the Network Environments for Indigenous Health Research (NEIHR). The Tahatikonhsontóntie’ Québec Network Environment for Indigenous Health Research (QcNEIHR) is driven by, and grounded in, Indigenous communities in Quebec. This manuscript aims to provide a reflexive account of the QcNEIHR. Using implementation analysis as a methodology, the QcNEIHR evaluator used documents, participant observations and interviews to compare the proposed QcNEIHR grant plan to what the QcNEIHR actualized. The co-authors, members of the Operations Circle, provided additional information and interpretations as the manuscript was being written. The QcNEIHR governance circles were invited to approve the presentation of results. Through this analysis we found that QcNEIHR activities aligned with three of four objectives in the initial research proposal. The Operations Circle of the QcNEIHR successfully navigated through several competing interests, such as, 1) finding a balance between consulting and taking concrete actions, 2) being inclusive while prioritizing a few targeted activities, 3) administering institutional research funds within an Indigenous community-based organization, 4) maintaining an efficient bilingual governance structure with diverse conceptualizations of health and research, 5) managing an organic Operations Circle for innovation and creativity, while assuring an accountability and timely deliverables. During the first four years of operation, the strategy of the QcNEIHR OC was based upon building relationships and mobilizing a diverse lively network. This strategy sets the foundation for community-shared ownership and leadership for the next iteration of the QcNEIHR, where community-driven Indigenous health research in Quebec will continue to strengthen and grow, with the support of provincial and national research institutions.
International Journal of Indigenous Health, 20(1)
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Older Métis Adults’ Experiences of Physical Activity and Implications to Health Providers
Liris Smith, Sylvia Abonyi, Brenna Bath, Liz Durocher, TJ Roy, Sarah Oosman
Physical activity supports health and wellness, and specifically supports healthy aging. Little is known about the experiences of older Métis adults with physical activity through their lifespan and how this has impacted wellness. This study was co-constructed with 12 older Métis adults in Sakitawak (Île-à-la-Crosse) Saskatchewan using a participatory action approach, two-eyed seeing and the ontology of Breath of Life Theory, as described by Cindy Blackstock. Older Métis adults described physical activity within three themes, Wahkotowin (Related to Everything), Ahkameyimowin (Never Give up), and E ti Meyo Matshohot (Becoming/Living a Better Life). The results of this study have implications for health care professions which are founded within biomedical and biopsychosocial models. We consider the context and experiences of physical activity among Indigenous populations in Canada to better address the gaps and identify practices that aim to support population health.
International Journal of Indigenous Health, 20(1)
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Hunting can increase physical activity of Indigenous peoples in Canada: pixem re yecwme’nstut
Sidney Paul, Elijah Haynes, Kathy Rush, Braden Te Hiwi, Jennifer Jakobi, and Fred Robbins
This study examined whether Indigenous peoples could achieve the Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines (CPAG) for adults while engaging in the cultural practice of hunting. It was hypothesized that Indigenous hunters would achieve or surpass the physical activity (PA) thresholds set forth by the CPAG on days spent hunting. Step count and heart rate were recorded from six male participants during mule deer hunts and days spent on-reserve. Step count was not statistically different between days spent hunting (28 803 ± 10 657 steps) and on-reserve (15 086 ± 7536 steps) (p = 0.10). Time spent in light (257 ± 45 min; p = 0.04), moderate (118 ± 71 min; p = 0.03), and vigorous (45 ± 42 min; p = 0.04) activities while hunting was greater than on-reserve (light, 180 ± 86; moderate, 71 ± 73; vigorous, 7 ± 10 min). The duration of moderate-to-vigorous PA (119 ± 95 min) for an average day hunting nearly meets the weekly CPAG recommendation of 150 min per week and is 1.8× greater than on-reserve (67 ± 80 min). Data suggest that hunting is probably a viable mode of PA for Indigenous adults to achieve health benefits. A strength of this study is the 10 h of daily recording which includes vehicular transportation to remote hunting areas. The duration of very light/sedentary PA did not differ between hunting (233 ± 211 min) and on-reserve (327 ± 164 min; p = 0.10), and highlights the importance of modernized vehicles in traditional Indigenous activities. A larger sample size would facilitate greater exploration of transportation, as well as success of the hunt on PA. These data suggest that health researchers and clinicians should consider traditional activities such as hunting as a means for Indigenous adults to increase participation in sufficiently vigorous PA to incur health benefits.
Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 49(6)
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Hula as a physical activity and social support intervention for sustained activity in female breast and gynecologic cancer survivors
Erin O. Bantum, Paulette M. Yamada, TeMoana Makolo, Herbert Yu, Ian Pagano, Natalie Subia, Catherine Walsh and Lenora W. M. Loo
Background: Physical activity improves health and psychosocial functioning for people who have been diagnosed with cancer. Native Hawaiians face disparities for some cancers, including breast cancer. Delivering culturally grounded interventions has the potential to improve enjoyment and adherence to the intervention. We sought to test the adherence and impact of a 6 month randomized wait-list controlled trial of hula.
Methods: In this randomized wait-list controlled design people who had been diagnosed with breast or gynecologic cancers were invited to participate with other cancer survivors in a group based setting. Participants were randomized to begin hula immediately or after six months. Attendance was collected and heart-rate measured three times per session. In addition, demographic data, self-report psychosocial data, and biological data (findings will be reported elsewhere) were collected at three time points: baseline, 6 months, and 12 months. The study included six months of hula, twice per week, 60 min each session. In addition, participants committed to practice 60 min per week at home.
Results: Participants in the study (n = 42) attended, on average, 72% of the sessions. Significant increase in moderate physical activity (d = 0.50, p = 0.03) was observed in the intervention versus control group. For the measures of intra-individual changes pre-and post-intervention, an increase in total physical activity were seen in the intervention group (d = 0.69, p = 0.003), daily caloric intake decreased (d = −0.62, p = 0.007), and a reduction in waist circumference (d = −0.89, p = 0.0002) that was sustained six months after completion of the intervention. Psychosocially, cognitive functioning significantly declined from baseline to 12 months (d = −0.50, p = 0.03), with role functioning improving (d = 0.55, p = 0.02), social constraints increasing (d = 0.49, p = 0.03), and financial difficulties improving (d = −0.55, p = 0.02).
Conclusion: Sustainable physical activity is crucial to improve both the survival and quality of life of cancer survivors. Culturally grounded interventions, such as hula have the potential to increase the maintenance of physical activity. In addition, they create a support group where the benefits of people who have all experienced cancer can gather and garner those benefits of social support, too. This study was registered as a clinical trial through the National Cancer Institute (NCT02351479).
Frontiers in Psychology, 14
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The role of the cultural environment in the development of physical literacy and physical activity of Iranian children
Majid Mohammadi, Farzaneh Elahipanah, and Sadegh Amani-shalamzari
Background: The investigation of physical literacy (PL) and physical activity (PA) should be done in an ecological context because the socio-cultural situation can encourage or inhibit children’s activity. The present study aimed to study the role of the cultural environment in the development of PL and PA in Iranian children.
Methods: The statistical population consisted of Iranian children aged 8 to 12, of whom 270 students were recruited by cluster sampling from six provinces. They complete the Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy 2 (CAPL-2) and the International Physical Activity Survey. To examine the cultural environment, the components of geographic location (west, south, central, east, and northwest), place of residence (downtown, suburban, and village), and gender (boys and girls) were used. A multivariate ANOVA analysis was used to analyze the data.
Results: From the geographic location, the findings showed that students inhabit in the west and east of Iran have significantly higher scores than their counterparts living in the central, south, and northwest at PA and PL (P < 0.001). From the place of residence, we observed a higher level of PA and PL in children living in the village than in those living in the suburbs and downtown (P < 0.001). In terms of gender, boys have higher PL and PA scores (P < 0.001).
Conclusion: The findings demonstrate that socio-cultural factors, geographic location, place of residence, and gender have different impacts on children’s PL and physical activity. Therefore, we suggest using ecologically appropriate decentralized planning in a physical education curriculum.
BMC Pediatrics, 23, 477
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Culturally Relevant Physical Activity in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System in Hawaiʻi
Tetine Sentell, PhD, Yan Yan Wu, PhD, Mele Look, MBA, Kapuaola Gellert, PhD, Tonya Lowery St. John, PhD, Lance Ching, PhD, MPH, Riko Lee, MPH, and Catherine Pirkle, PhD
Introduction: Culturally relevant physical activity is a promising field for chronic disease prevention and management. Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders have higher rates of physical inactivity than other racial or ethnic groups and increased risk of chronic disease. The study objective was to provide population-level data from Hawaiʻi on lifetime experiences in the Native Hawaiian Indigenous practices of hula and outrigger canoe paddling across demographic and health factors to identify opportunities for public health intervention, engagement, and surveillance.
Methods: Questions about hula and paddling were added to the Hawai‘i 2018 and 2019 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (N = 13,548). We considered level of engagement by demographic categories and health status indicators, accounting for the complex survey design.
Results: Overall, 24.5% of adults engaged in hula and 19.8% in paddling in their lifetime. Prevalence of engagement was higher among Native Hawaiians (48.8% hula, 41.5% paddling) and Other Pacific Islanders (35.3% hula, 31.1% paddling) than among other racial and ethnic groups. In adjusted rate ratios, experience in these activities was strong across age groups, education, sex, and income levels, particularly among Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders.
Conclusion: Throughout Hawaiʻi, hula and outrigger canoe paddling are important and popular cultural practices with high physical activity demands. Participation was notably high for Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders. Surveillance information around culturally relevant physical activities can benefit public health programming and research from a strength-based community perspective.
Preventing Chronic Disease: Public Health Research, Practice, and Policy. 20, 20:220412
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A Nature’s Way Our Way Pilot Project Case Assemblage
(Re)Storying Child/Physical Literacy/Land Relationships for Indigenous Preschool-Aged Children’s Wholistic Wellness
Kathryn Riley, Amanda Froehlich Chow, Kathleen Wahpepah, Natalie Houser, Mariana Brussoni, Erica Stevenson, Marta C. Erlandson, M. Louise Humbert
Physical literacy (PL) is gaining more attention from educational policy-makers, practitioners, and researchers as a way to improve health and wellness outcomes for children and youth. While the development of PL is important for early years children, there is limited attention in the literature that explores the political, cultural, and social discourses imbued in colonialism that implicate how PL is actualized in Indigenous early childhood education (ECE) contexts. This case assemblage explores how the culturally rooted, interdisciplinary, and community-based PL initiative, Nature’s Way–Our Way (NWOW), negotiated movement with three early childhood educators in the pilot project with an early childhood education centre (ECEC) in Saskatchewan, Canada. Through postqualitative approaches to research, this case assemblage adopts new materialist methodologies to show how the natural order of knowing in movement was disrupted through moments of rupture generating stories of PL to encompass radical relationality with land. As land becomes a vital and lively part of PL storying, it can function as an important protective factor for Indigenous preschool-aged children’s wholistic wellness.
Children, 10(3), 497
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Indigenous Land-Based Approaches to Well-Being
The Niska (Goose) Harvesting Program in Subarctic Ontario, Canada
Fatima Ahmed, Eric N. Liberda, Andrew Solomon, Roger Davey, Bernard Sutherland, and Leonard J. S. Tsuji
Historically, goose harvesting provided a source of culturally significant, safe, and nutritious food for the Omushkego Cree of subarctic Ontario, Canada. Disruptions stemming from colonization and climate change have led to a decrease in harvesting, resulting in higher rates of food insecurity. The aim of the Niska program was to reconnect Elders and youth to revitalize goose harvesting activities and associated Indigenous knowledge within the community. The program and evaluation were built using a two-eyed seeing (Etuaptmumk) and community-based participatory research approach. Salivary cortisol, a biomedical measure of stress, was collected before (n = 13) and after (n = 13) participation in the spring harvest. Likewise, cortisol samples were collected before (n = 12) and after (n = 12) the summer harvest. Photovoice and semi-directed interviews were employed after the spring (n = 13) and summer (n = 12) harvests to identify key elements of well-being from an Indigenous perspective. The changes observed in cortisol levels for the spring (p = 0.782) and summer (p = 0.395) harvests were not statistically significant. However, there was a noteworthy increase in the subjective well-being observed through the qualitative measures (semi-directed interviews and photovoice), highlighting the importance of using multiple perspectives when assessing well-being, especially in Indigenous peoples. Future programs should incorporate multiple perspectives when addressing complex environmental and health issues, such as food security and environmental conservation, especially in Indigenous homelands worldwide.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(4), 3686
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Dance for Chronic Pain Conditions: A Systematic Review
Benjamin Hickman, B(ExPhys), M(Phty), Fereshteh Pourkazemi, BSc(Phty), MSc, PhD, Roxanna N Pebdani, CRC, PhD, Claire E Hiller, BAppSc(Phty), PhD, and Alycia Fong Yan, BAppSc(ExSpSci), PhD
Objectives: Globally, 20–25% of people will experience chronic pain in their lifetimes. Dance is a physical activity with psychosocial benefits that might positively impact pain. This review aimed to investigate the effect of dance interventions on the experience of pain by quantitative measures and qualitative themes.
Methods: Seven major databases were searched from inception to January 2021. Two independent reviewers screened articles at each stage. Qualitative and quantitative studies were included if the dance interventions lasted more than 6 weeks, participants reported pain of duration longer than 3 months, and pain was an outcome of the study. All articles were critically appraised with appropriate Joanna Briggs Institute tools, and data were collated through the use of results-based convergent synthesis.
Results: From 23,628 articles, 34 full papers were included, with a total of 1,254 participants (75.2% female). Studies predominantly investigated individuals with fibromyalgia (26%) and generalized chronic pain (14%), with aerobic dance (20.7%) and Biodanza (20.7%) being the most common dance genres investigated. Overall, 74% of studies noted either reduced pain through quantitative pain measures or qualitative themes of improved pain experience (88% for chronic primary pain and 80% for chronic secondary musculoskeletal pain).
Discussion: There were positive effects of dance on chronic primary and secondary musculoskeletal pain across diverse populations. A variety of study designs and interventions noted improved pain measures and themes around pain coping and acceptance, with all dance therapies showing improvements, particularly when performed for 60–150 minutes’ duration weekly. Dance should be considered as an effective adjunct in the management of chronic pain.
Pain Medicine, 23(12), 2022–2041
Public Health Resonance Project 