On 25-26 October, PAHO and the McGill University Collaborating Center co-hosted a regional meeting on indigenous wellness and suicide prevention, which was held in Montreal, Canada. The meeting’s objectives were to exchange experiences of wellness and suicide prevention at the community level; to investigate the development or revision of culturally competent adaptation processes and methodologies for international mental health tools; and to establish future collaborations between participating indigenous communities and PAHO/WHO.
Participants included more than 30 representatives from indigenous communities and health officials from across the Region of the Americas. Ten countries were represented: Canada, the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Peru, Chile, and Guyana. The meeting included a series of panels on indigenous and health system approaches to wellness and suicide prevention. Work groups which followed the panels gave participants the opportunity to discuss key questions on collaboration and shared barriers.
One important takeaway from the meeting was the recognition that many indigenous communities across the Region share common goals and challenges related to mental wellness and suicide prevention, and could benefit from sharing best practices. Along this line, community members discussed the need for a repository of local experiences, evidence-based strategies to promote mental health and to combat suicide. Participants also expressed their hope that the discussion on indigenous wellness and suicide prevention would be continued in the near future.
