Engaging Indigenous youth through popular theatre: Knowledge mobilization of Indigenous peoples' perspectives on access to healthcare services. Issue 4 (December 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Camargo Plazas, Pilar; Cameron, Brenda L; Milford, Krista; Hunt, Lindsay Ruth; Bourque-Bearskin, Lisa; Santos Salas, Anna
• Other Names: Kjellströom Sofia guest-editor.; Mitchell Ann guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Action research. Volume 17:Issue 4(2019:Dec.)
• Page Start: 492
• Page End: 509
• Publication Date: 2019-12
• Subjects: Indigenous people -- popular theatre -- action research -- access to healthcare -- inequities in health; Action research -- Periodicals; 300.72
• DOI: 10.1177/1476750318789468
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1476-7503

Abstract

In Canada, Indigenous peoples bear a greater burden of illness and suffer disproportionate health disparities compared to non-Indigenous people. Difficult access to healthcare services has contributed to this gap. In this article, we present findings from a dissemination grant aimed to engage Indigenous youth in popular theatre to explore inequities in access to health services for Indigenous people in a Western province in Canada. Following an Indigenous and action research approach, we undertook popular theatre as a means to disseminate our research findings. Popular theatre allows audience members to engage with a scene relevant to their own personal situation and to intervene during the performance to create multiple ways of critically understanding and reacting to a difficult situation. Using popular theatre was successful in generating discussion and engaging the community and healthcare professionals to discuss next steps to increasing access to healthcare services. Popular theatre and short dramas provide a venue for mirroring stigmatized care and expose racial biases in the delivery of care. The contributions of the students, their input, and their acting were to increase our awareness even more of the pervasiveness of the stigmatized care that Indigenous people experience.