Dance for Wellness: Indigenous adolescents' Perspectives on Mental Health, Wellness, and Dance

PurposeIndigenous adolescents living on reservations in Canada experience mental health disparities, and there is an urgent need to address this as mental illness and suicide increase. Therefore, a dance program was initiated to attempt to improve mental health and wellness for Indigenous adolescents The reaearch purpose was to gain insight into theexperiences of mental health and wellness in Indigenous adolescents and identify if and how a four-week dance program affected their mental health and wellness.DesignA trauma-informed, qualitative, single-case study design was used.MethodSemi-structured interviews and symbol-based data were used to interview eight adolescents aged 11 - 16 years living in a Denesulin & eacute; community from February to June 2022.FindingsThree multidimensional themes emerged: It Helped My Mental Health and Everything (Dance Helps Me Escape, Dance Makes Me Feel Good, and Dance Is Just Really Fun); A Little Bubble Around Me When I Dance (I Can Be More Confident and I Can Be Myself), and We Won't Judge You Here (Creation of Friendship, He Said I Was Really Good, and Improved School Attendance).ConclusionsThe dance program impacted the participants' mental health and wellness by providing positive activities to engage the adolescents.Clinical EvidenceCommunity health nurses (CHNs) assist in promoting health and wellness in Indigenous adolescents living on reservation and can use these findings to advocate for funding for the development of dance-based mental health and wellness programs.