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IJERPH
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Community-Informed Health Promotion Interventions with Indigenous Communities
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Community-Informed Health Promotion Interventions with Indigenous Communities

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Global Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2026 | Viewed by 3277

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Nicolette Teufel-Shone

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Center for Health Equity Research, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, USA
Interests: building community capacity to achieve health equity in in Native American communities in the US; community-based participatory research; chronic disease prevention
Dr. Amanda M. Hunter

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
Interests: indigenous health; adolescent health; substance use prevention; program development; implementation and evaluation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Community-informed health promotion interventions with Indigenous communities prioritize cultural relevance, trust-building, and community engagement to address persistent health disparities. Key obstacles to relevant intervention design and continuous programming includes limited local or cultural guidance, failure to address persistent systemic inequities, lack of sustainability plans, and inadequate resources, e.g., time for collaborative program development and engagement of traditional knowledge holders. The literature offers cases of adapted programs that were initially developed for non-Indigenous communities. Yet program design teams have few examples of effective, sustained interventions that are co-designed by community-academic collaborators and that integrated traditional knowledge, values, and practices into the program, through design, implementation and dissemination.

This Special Issue is designed to showcase approaches and methods used by community-academic teams to successful apply traditional knowledge to align with local cultural contexts and to share outcomes and strategies for sustainability.

Prof. Dr. Nicolette Teufel-Shone
Dr. Amanda M. Hunter
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • indigenous health
  • health equity
  • community-informed intervention
  • cultural relevance
  • community empowerment

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 450 KB  
Article
Preferences for Chronic Pain Treatment Among Indigenous Peoples Living in the Pacific Northwest
by Andrea K. Newman, Mark P. Jensen, Kara Link, Kathy Littlebull, Molly Fuentes, Chantelle E. Roberts, Robin John and Ryan G. Pett
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2026, 23(4), 502; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph23040502 - 14 Apr 2026
Viewed by 728
Abstract
There is a significant need for culturally appropriate psychological treatments for chronic pain among American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) peoples. This study used Indigenous community-based participatory research methods with the Portland Area Indian Health Services—Yakama Service Unit (YSU) to gather information needed for developing [...] Read more.
There is a significant need for culturally appropriate psychological treatments for chronic pain among American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) peoples. This study used Indigenous community-based participatory research methods with the Portland Area Indian Health Services—Yakama Service Unit (YSU) to gather information needed for developing culturally adapted psychological treatments for AI/AN individuals with chronic pain. This study included remote semi-structured focus groups with 16 AI/AN individuals with chronic pain to identify pain treatment preferences (Aim 1) and priorities for pain treatment outcome domains (Aim 2). Thematic analyses were conducted with Atlas.ti (version 23.2.1). Results indicated a high interest in psychological interventions and concern that referral to psychological treatment meant that pain is “not real.” Pain intensity and pain interference were identified as the most important outcome domains. To measure pain intensity, the 0 to 10 Numerical Rating Scale was most preferred. The findings support the potential utility of culturally adapted psychological treatments for chronic pain for AI/AN individuals and provided information regarding the adaptations that would be most useful. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Community-Informed Health Promotion Interventions with Indigenous Communities)
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14 pages, 277 KB  
Article
Nii Kandis (Knowing Myself): Finding a Sacred Home at Anishnawbe Health Toronto Through Spirit-Based Healing
by Allison Reeves, Anishnawbe Health Toronto, Teresa Beaulieu and Kimberly Jordon
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2026, 23(3), 405; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph23030405 - 23 Mar 2026
Viewed by 592
Abstract
Anishnawbe Health Toronto (AHT) is Canada’s largest multidisciplinary Indigenous health centre. In 2023, the Executive Director of AHT spearheaded a community-centered research study looking at mental and spiritual health for its community of service users. This project sought to support cultural resurgence efforts [...] Read more.
Anishnawbe Health Toronto (AHT) is Canada’s largest multidisciplinary Indigenous health centre. In 2023, the Executive Director of AHT spearheaded a community-centered research study looking at mental and spiritual health for its community of service users. This project sought to support cultural resurgence efforts in AHT health programming through the synthesis of Indigenous-informed models and understandings of mental health, rooted in the knowledge and experience of care providers at AHT. This project also sought to enhance Indigenous community research capacity by involving Indigenous community stakeholders in each stage of the qualitative research process. This paper details these methods, which follow Indigenous community ethics in research, and include both Indigenous approaches to research as well as qualitative methods. This paper then presents a summary of the study’s findings, describing the interdisciplinary mental health services of a team of Indigenous and non-Indigenous practitioners at AHT. Three major themes describe the unique features of these services: The Healing Relationship, Indigenous Spaces and Identities as a “Sacred Home”, and Healing Through Spirit. The connection between spirituality and Indigenous wellness is discussed by centering Indigenous values and ways of knowing as central to Indigenous healing, survivance, and cultural resurgence. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Community-Informed Health Promotion Interventions with Indigenous Communities)
16 pages, 1670 KB  
Article
The Kaiona Framework: Centering Hawaiian and Pasifika Community in Defining, Measuring, and Promoting Health and Well-Being
by Kenny S. Ferenchak, Blane K. Garcia, J. Kukui Maunakea-Forth, Chelsey V. Jay, Isaiah Pule, Eric Enos, Kay L. Fukuda, Asia Engle, C. Kamalani Cruz, Myna Keleb, Angelica Raza-Furtado, Alika Spahn Naihe, Andrew Aoki, Faith Ewaliko, Uʻilani O. N. Schnackenberg, Kevin M. C. D. Akiyama, Ariel Makana Panui, Kyle Kaliko Chang and May Okihiro
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2026, 23(3), 402; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph23030402 - 22 Mar 2026
Viewed by 666
Abstract
The place and people of Waiʻanae, Hawaiʻi, are rich in connection with ʻāina (natural environment) and culture. Counter to this strengths-based approach, metrics and narratives imposed by outside systems assess many communities like ours as “sick”, “poor”, or “unwell”. This paper details [...] Read more.
The place and people of Waiʻanae, Hawaiʻi, are rich in connection with ʻāina (natural environment) and culture. Counter to this strengths-based approach, metrics and narratives imposed by outside systems assess many communities like ours as “sick”, “poor”, or “unwell”. This paper details our community’s approach to defining “well-being” around the values specific to our place, overseen by a council of community leaders with decades of experience supporting youth. The development was a mixed methods process including formal focus groups, informal community conversations, review of existing models, and collaboration with a professional artist. Centering community was the priority through each phase, engaging youth, parents, cultural practitioners, healthcare providers, and educators. Our community built the Kaiona Framework around the moʻolelo (traditional story) of Kaiona who helps the lost find home through empathy and compassion. Well-being is grounded in connection to, in relationship with, and in service to ʻāina. The child is at the center of our work, but inseparable from the family, community, and wider nation of people. Wellness comprises four values vital to our community: mauli ola, a balanced state of physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and environmental health; waiwai, abundance and prosperity; pilina, mutually sustaining relationships; and ea, self-determination and agency. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Community-Informed Health Promotion Interventions with Indigenous Communities)
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