ABSTRACT
Research has found that helping others facilitates well-being for Indigenous peoples living with HIV and AIDS, but limited research exists that investigates the mechanism(s) underlying this relationship. Indigenous perspectives posit that helping others facilitates well-being through the development of an individual's spiritual, physical, emotional, and mental aspects (four aspects). Similarly, self-determination theory posits that helping others facilitates well-being by satisfying basic psychological needs. In the present study, we examined if helping others facilitates well-being through the fulfillment of the spiritual, physical, emotional, and mental aspects among Indigenous peoples living with HIV and AIDS. We used a convergent parallel mixed methods design, coupled with a community-engaged approach grounded in the United Nations Greater Involvement of People Living with HIV and AIDS principles and Indigenous and decolonizing research methodologies. Survey (n = 117) and interview data (n = 9) collected by an Indigenous-led HIV/AIDS organization in Canada were employed to examine the relationship between helping, the four aspects, and well-being. Participants were primarily First Nations leaders and mentors who live with HIV/AIDS, with some Métis and Inuit. A parallel multiple mediation model and reflexive thematic analysis were used to analyze the relationship between helping, the four aspects, and well-being. Mixed-methods findings support the idea that helping others promotes well-being by fulfilling the emotional and mental aspects. Qualitative findings demonstrated this relationship for all four aspects. This research may facilitate the development of programs to support Indigenous peoples living with HIV/AIDS well-being and contribute to the literature on integrating Indigenous perspectives and methodologies within psychological research.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Aboriginal people in Canada are disproportionately affected by HIV and other blood-borne infections. A-Track is a national public health surveillance system designed to monitor HIV and related infections, behaviours and socio-demographic factors among Aboriginal populations in Canada. The pilot survey for the A-Track surveillance system, the first of its kind in Canada, was conducted in Regina, Saskatchewan and implemented via a community and public health partnership. OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence of HIV, hepatitis C, syphilis and associated risk behaviours and socio-demographic factors among Aboriginal people in Regina, Saskatchewan. This focus of the pilot survey was to provide this surveillance information for public health action and to determine whether this type of public health surveillance activity could be conducted in an urban setting across Canada. METHODS: Survey participants were self-identified Aboriginal people (First Nations, Inuit or Métis) or those who claimed Aboriginal ancestry and between the ages of 16 and 60 years. These individuals were also asked to provide a blood sample for HIV, hepatitis C and syphilis antibody testing. Descriptive analyses were performed with sex-based comparisons. RESULTS: There were 1064 people who participated in the survey. Their average age was 33 years and 51% were male. The majority of participants (93%) lived in urban Regina at the time of the survey. Just over half (53.2%) of all participants had been removed from their families during childhood; 29.9% had lived in a residential or boarding school during childhood; and 57.7% had lived at some point in a correctional facility. Among the 1,045 participants who provided a blood sample of sufficient quantity for testing, 5.2% were HIV seropositive and 55.8% of these were aware of their HIV status. The lifetime exposure to hepatitis C was 41.6%, with significantly higher proportions of males than females testing positive for hepatitis C exposure. Syphilis seroprevalence was very low (<1%). Almost three-quarters (71.5%) of participants reported being tested for HIV at least once in their lifetime and among those ever tested, 67.6% had been tested during the 12 months prior to the interview. CONCLUSION: Aboriginal people are disproportionately affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Canada. The findings from the A-Track pilot survey can be used to inform and evaluate prevention and treatment services for HIV and other related infections among Aboriginal people. Lessons learned from the pilot survey could also be used to guide the possible implementation of A-Track in other urban and/or reserve locations in Canada.
