A Culturally-Grounded Biopsychosocial Assessment Utilizing Indigenous Ways of Knowing with the Cowichan Tribes

Extant research foregrounds the need for culturally responsive, evidence-based mental health practices when working with Indigenous communities. This study presents an Indigenous biopsychosocial assessment designed by members of the Cowichan Tribes to evaluate the social, developmental, and mental health histories of Cowichan youth. The assessment takes the form of an in-depth narrative interview whose parameters were developed through a culturally grounded, community-based process. This process supported a focus on relationality, interdependence, and intergenerational transmission of knowledge during the interview. Five participants aged 12-18 years completed interviews, which yielded sufficient data to enable completion of both Indigenous and standard biopsychosocial assessments.