ALCOHOL ABUSE RECOVERY FIRST NATIONS AND ABORIGINAL WOMEN: A QUALITATIVE STUDY THROUGH THE LENS OF MANITOBAN

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1 ALCOHOL ABUSE RECOVERY THROUGH THE LENS OF MANITOBAN FIRST NATIONS AND ABORIGINAL WOMEN: A QUALITATIVE STUDY Karen Doty-Sweetnam Department of Psychiatric Nursing Faculty of Health Studies Brandon University

QUALITATIVE STUDY Karen Doty-Sweetnam Department of

3 QUALITATIVE STUDY: Explored the experiences of First Nations and Aboriginal women during their journey of recovery from alcohol abuse.

4 Seven women participated in individual, tape-recorded interviews, during which they described their experiences, yielding written protocols that were thematically analyzed.

5 Adequacy of sample size in qualitative research is relative, a matter of judging a sample neither small nor large per se, but too small or too large for the intended purposes of sampling and for the intended qualitative product. Sandelowski (1995)

but too small or too large for the intended purposes of

7 WHY? There is a higher rate of drug and alcohol abuse among Aboriginal people of Canada than the general population. McCormick (2000): It is also reported that alcohol-related deaths among First Nations people are six times higher compared to the general population. Tremblay (2009) Specific data pertaining to the rate of alcohol abuse and First Nations and Aboriginal women is unavailable.

McCormick (2000): It is also reported that alcohol-related deaths among First Nations people are

8 Indigenous peoples have been curiously absent from the Canadian recovery scene. Reasons for this nonparticipation may be traced to the racism and whiteness that continues in mental health but might there also be a link to the limitations of recovery, including its specific focus on mental health? Lavallee and Poole (1995)

continues in mental health but might there also be a link to the limitations of

9 However, the majority of researchers who study alcohol use among the native people of North America have devoted little attention to how or why they give up drinking

10 Instead, as in the anthropology of alcohol more generally, the predominate impulse has been to explain why Indian people drink as they do. Spicer (2001)

11 The purpose of this study was threefold: to afford co-researchers with an opportunity to share their journey and experience of recovery, to provide preliminary information regarding the recovery strategies utilized by the co-researchers, to prompt future research in the area of recovery among First Nations and Aboriginal women.

preliminary information regarding the recovery strategies utilized by the

12 Little is known about the psychological protective factors of resilience and selfdifferentiation, which women may or may not bring to treatment and recovery process. Sutherland, Cook, Stetina, and Hernandez (2009) These authors also report that women who enter treatment for substance abuse have different needs than men

13 Women are especially reluctant to seek treatment for alcohol problems. Greenfield (2007)

14 Barriers: 1. opposition and the lack of support from family and friends, 2. elevated unemployment, 3. increased economic barriers, 4. familial responsibilities, 5. stigma and 6. societal disapproval. Grosso et al., (2013)

16 Results from this study revealed seven predominant themes: guilt and shame unresolved core issues resilience tenacity recovery process traditional spirituality family and friends

17 1. GUILT AND SHAME: And I didn t want to be sober because I was ashamed of what I was doing, and I didn t want anybody to know. The more I drank then, I just didn t care. But then if I tried sobering up all the shame and guilt came up. But then I just I didn t like that feeling so I just kept drinking.

The more I drank then, I just didn t care.

18 2. UNRESOLVED CORE ISSUES: But the survivors from the fifties and sixties and the seventies are now just getting their compensation. And they are now just getting this opportunity to look at what happened to them. For a lot of them they are relapsing into alcohol because they don t know what else to do.

And they are now just getting this opportunity to look at what happened to

19 RESILIENCE: Women are thoughtful beings. They were strong leaders in the community, and the Europeans that introduced the white way and the men became chiefs. That is not the natural order. The order is the grandmothers were supposed to be the ones that lead. They carried life, they carry the teachings.

introduced the white way and the men became chiefs.

20 TENACITY: Once I made my decision I went for it. There s no turning back. I m a stubborn person to begin with. Alright so there wasn t any way I was going to turn back. I was going to give it all I had to see if it worked. Because I decided that I wasn t going to drink anymore and do drugs anymore, that I was going to pursue this new lifestyle I was determined.

Alright so there wasn t any way I was going to turn back.

21 RECOVERY PROCESS: But what happened was the night before I was lying in bed and I prayed and I said, I really don t know what I want to do. Do I want to go drinking with my friends, or do I want to go out and learn some more about this cultural stuff. I really don t know. And I left it with God, I said you know where I should go. And I went to the cultural retreat. And that was my first day of sobriety.

22 FAMILY AND FRIENDS: I quit drinking, then my father quit. And I don't know it seems like all my brothers quit because they were following. I don't know what it was, like it is almost like a wave. And, then my cousin quit...and I never said to them stop drinking...i was just an example I guess.

23 TRADITIONAL/SPIRITUAL But looking back my mom had all this, but it was so subtle. But it wasn t in the open. She was traditional and spiritual but I didn t really know it because that was the time when things were hidden from people because you d get arrested and put into jail if you were practicing it

24 REFERENCES Greenfield, S., Brooks, A., Gordon, S., Green, C., Kropp, F., McHugh, R., Lincoln, M., Hien, D., & Miele, G. (2007). Substance abuse treatment entry, retention, and outcome in women: A review. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 86(1), 1-21.Grosso, J., Epstein, E., McCrady, B., Gaba, A., Cook, S. Backer-Fulghum, M., & Graff, F. (2013). Women s motivators for seeking treatment for alcohol use disorders. Addictive Behaviors, 38, Lavallee, L., & Poole, J. (2010). Beyond recovery: Colonialism, health and healing for Indigenous People in Canada. International Journal of Mental Health Addiction, 8, McCormick, R. (2000). Aboriginal traditions in the treatment of substance abuse. Canadian Journal of Counselling, 34(1), Sandelowski, M. (1995). Sample size in qualitative research. Research in Nursing and Health, 18, Spicer, P. Culture and the restoration of self among former American Indian drinkers. Social Science & Medicine, 53, Sutherland, J., Cook, L., Stetina, P., & Hernandez, C. (2009). Women in substance abuse recovery. Measures of resilience and self-determination. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 31(7), Tremblay, P. (2009). Getting it right: Using population specific, community-based research to advance the health and well-being of First Nations, Inuit and Metis in Canada. National Aboriginal Health Organization.

25 Dr. Colleen Anne Dell, University of Saskatchewan and Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse

26 Used with permission of Microsoft.

Heal Me Hear: First Nations Women, Drug Abuse and the Healing Journey

Heal Me Hear: First Nations Women, Drug Abuse and the Healing Journey Canadian Institutes of Health Research Project (#74289) National Native Addictions Partnership Foundation Canadian Centre on Substance