Indigenous peoples define health as self-determination (I know, right?): Laura Gemmell-Sinnott, Miriam Laugesen, Robin Quigg, ‘How do Indigenous peoples define health? A systematic review of definitions across Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and the United States’, Qualitative Research in Health, 2026, #100874 | settler colonial studies blog

Indigenous peoples define health as self-determination (I know, right?): Laura Gemmell-Sinnott, Miriam Laugesen, Robin Quigg, ‘How do Indigenous peoples define health? A systematic review of definitions across Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and the United States’, Qualitative Research in Health, 2026, #100874

28Sep26

Abstract: Indigenous peoples in Canada, Australia, the United States, and Aotearoa New Zealand experience persistent and preventable health inequities driven by colonisation, systemic power imbalances, and the imposition of Western biomedical frameworks that fail to reflect Indigenous understandings of health. A systematic literature review was conducted using the PRISMA-2020 protocols, identifying 644 records in Scopus and PubMed, of which 31 studies met the final eligibility criteria. Five themes emerged: holistic wellbeing; cultural knowledge; connection to land; relationships; and self-determination. Across the included studies, findings indicate that many Indigenous communities hold different perspectives of health. Dominant Western frameworks, including the World Health Organisation definition of health, remain insufficient to accommodate Indigenous health needs. This study offers a new perspective on how Indigenous communities define and conceptualise health and examines the implications for reorienting health policy and practice to better reflect community- and culture-driven, self-determined definitions of wellbeing.

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