Theses and Dissertations

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Browsing Theses and Dissertations by Author "Abonyi, Sylvia"

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    A narrative exploration of the right to health in the lives of Indigenous women
    (Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2023-06) Latta, Lori Patricia; Hoeber, Larena; Cooper , Elizabeth; Green , Brenda; Abonyi, Sylvia; McIntosh, Thomas; Forman, Lisa
    This study explores, through critical narrative analysis, the understanding of Indigenous women about conditions that they need to be healthy, and how their stories and reflections provide a critique that can inform thinking around the right to health. Literature from varied disciplinary perspectives describes the right to health, and a body of health human rights, as conceptual tools that identify the conditions all people require to be healthy, encompassing not just health care and access to material goods, but equality, culture, power and participation. Literature also provides some critique of human rights, and indicates that their alignment with dominant discourses and powers may be a barrier to their effectiveness for Indigenous people. With reference to Habermas’ theories of communicative action, including the colonization thesis, the lifeworlds of 14 Indigenous women were explored in relation to the institutional discourse of health human rights. The study finds that in the stories that women shared there was some validation of human rights instruments relating to health, which identify as rights violations health harms such as violence, disruption of families, experiences of racism, and lack of support for mental health. However, women’s interpretation of these events often differed from institutional discourse in that they located responsibility for violations less in the people or organizations that harmed them, and more in processes of colonization carried out by successive Canadian governments, that effectively undermined their rights and their health. As they reflected on their stories, women identified a right to knowledge about history and the impact of colonization on Indigenous people as being important to their physical and mental health. Other findings are that a rights-based assessment of women’s health that focuses on experiences of violations and harms may be perceived as deficit-based. To be more meaningful to Indigenous women, a discourse of human rights in health could speak to their strengths and resources, and support broadly defined goals in physical, spiritual and mental health by removing barriers to agency. This study joins a body of other research in finding that explicit rights-based participation in service delivery and health policy development and evaluation may help to avoid abuses in the future, but may require more autonomous forms of governance and service delivery to address longstanding power imbalance and distrust. The study concludes that a discourse of health human rights can better meet the needs of Indigenous women when colonialism is named as a human rights abuse and the primary cause of health inequity that affects their families and communities, reinforcing their life world knowledge with rights-based accountability, and creating common understanding in the public sphere.
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    Narratives of Aboriginal Grandmothers: Stories of Identity and Health
    (Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2015-12) Billan, Jennifer Lynn; Hoeber, Larena; Juschka, Darlene; McKenna, Flora B.; Abonyi, Sylvia
    In recent years, researchers have been exploring the significance of identity and its relation to overall health within Aboriginal communities (Bourassa & Peach, 2009; Carriere, 2005; Mikkonen & Raphael, 2010; Wilson, 2004). Aboriginal identity is central to the health and understanding of oneself and has been recognized by researchers as a key determinant of health (Bourassa, McKay-McNabb, & Hampton, 2009; Carriere, 2005; Mikkonen & Raphael, 2010; Wilson, 2004). There is a growing body of knowledge supporting this connection, yet there remains a shortage of work specifically related to Aboriginal grandmothers’ experiences and understandings of identity and health. Consequently, existing concepts related to Aboriginal health and identity may not reflect the unique experiences of Aboriginal grandmothers who are also caring for grandchildren. In Canada, Aboriginal grandmothers are held in high esteem and valued for relaying cultural teachings to future generations (Anderson, 2011; McKenzie, Bourassa, Kubik, Strathy, & McKenna, 2010). Furthermore, Aboriginal women play a critical role in the health of their families and communities as mothers, community Elders, and through other social roles (Health Canada, 2003). Guided by Indigenous methodological perspectives and feminist post-colonial theory, this community-based research project explores understandings of identity and health and its intersection from the perspectives of Aboriginal grandmothers who are caring for grandchildren in Regina, Saskatchewan. During this research process, I 1) engaged in discussion with six Aboriginal grandmothers through semi-structured interviews regarding their experiences and understandings of identity and health, 2) thematically analyzed their narratives to further explore understandings of identity and health and their intersection, and 3) shared preliminary findings with grandmothers through a Sharing Circle, which included a pipe ceremony and feast guided by a female Anishnabe Elder. The findings demonstrate that Aboriginal grandmothers have a holistic understanding of identity and health. Furthermore, there are multiple factors in the intersection of identity and health, including kinship, access to resources and support, healing from grief, as well as engaging in Aboriginal culture and spirituality. The grandmothers’ narratives have implications for social policy, service delivery, and future research. As a community-based research project, the grandmothers will ultimately decide the future use of the results from this thesis.