Community Is Medicine: Understanding Indigenous Youth-Led Peer Support in Mental Health and Suicide Prevention

Indigenous youth in Canada face complex mental health challenges, including disproportionately high rates of suicide. Peer support separates itself from typical mental health care provision by centering the value of lived experience to provide hope, challenge stigma, and build a sense of community and self-efficacy for young people. Through peer support, Indigenous youth can share their experiences, offer one another support, and honor their cultural identities. The purpose of this study is to understand what culturally grounded strategies Indigenous youth peer support models use to promote Indigenous youth resilience, mental wellness, and suicide prevention. This study adopts a partnership-oriented, community-based research approach that centers Indigenous youth leadership and knowledge, grounded in the concept of "wise practices." This study examines two Indigenous youth-led peer support programs: We Matter (operating nationally across Canada) and Yúusnewas (operating regionally in British Columbia, Canada) through interviews, program observation, and digital content analysis. Results indicate that We Matter and Yúusnewas both have four core culturally grounded program elements: cultural programming, intergenerational involvement, harm reduction education, and youth political advocacy and leadership development. Through centering Indigenous knowledges, these programs serve as an example of culturally relevant, sustainable, and effective Indigenous mental health promotion approaches.