Psychologist Christopher Mushquash draws on his clinical experience and community-based participatory approach to research in order to improve systems and services for Indigenous people and people in rural and Northern communities. Existing services often don’t meet the needs of these communities, and Mushquash’s research focuses on addressing this gap in a culturally- and contextually-appropriate manner.
Through his work, Mushquash has improved the lives of many Indigenous, rural, and Northern communities. His impact has been recognized with a 2023 Canada Gairdner Momentum Award.
“There’s a relative lack of services [for Indigenous people and people in rural and Northern areas] when compared to the rest of the Canadian population, and those services that do exist haven’t always met the needs of people in community,” says Mushquash, Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Mental Health and Addiction and professor in the Department of Psychology at Lakehead University.
Mushquash’s work focuses in particular on various aspects of mental health within Indigenous communities, including substance use, trauma, and general mental wellness. To address the gaps in existing services, Mushquash works in large team collaborations and undertakes this work in partnership with communities, government, and academia.
“What I’m always trying to do is take the best of what we know from scientific perspectives — but also, importantly, cultural perspectives — and try to improve systems and services in a way that meets people’s needs at the community level,” says Mushquash, who is also Director of the Centre for Rural and Northern Health Research at Lakehead University.
“Finding ways of improving care for Indigenous people and people in rural and Northern areas in a manner that’s respectful and centers on their cultural knowledge and who they are as people.”
To do this, Mushquash and his collaborators focus on four interconnection directions with their research. Their goals are to identify culturally- and contextually-appropriate targets of intervention; develop methods for measuring community outcomes; develop and test interventions which bring together culture-based knowledge with scientific methods; and share this knowledge broadly with Indigenous and academic communities, and among clinicians, policy-, and decision-makers.
His work has had a profound impact. Through carrying out the first Canadian study of adverse childhood experiences in First Nations adults seeking residential treatment for substance use difficulties, Mushquash and his team enhanced our understanding of developmental and intergenerational trauma in First Nations people. They also improved clinical care for those with substance use difficulties, and influenced federal funding within First Nations communities.
Mushquash sees his 2023 Canada Gairdner Momentum Award as an opportunity to open the conversation about these topics to a much wider audience.
“Being acknowledged is a tremendous honour,” Mushquash says.
“I see a lot of potential for highlighting important issues and really collaborating with the Gairdner to create a platform where the conversation about mental health and addiction difficulties in Indigenous communities, wellness, [and] cultural approaches to healing […] can be talked about in a way that’s able to set us on a pathway that allows us to continue in our healing journey.”
