A Nunavut community-directed Inuit youth mental wellness initiative: making I-SPARX fly
Inuit youth in Nunavut (NU) are resilient but face a protracted suicide crisis. The SPARX serious game and e-intervention, developed originally in New Zealand, teaches youth cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) skills to ameliorate stress and depression. Inuit youth in NU reviewed and culturally adap...
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Taylor & Francis Group
2024-12-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Circumpolar Health |
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| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/22423982.2024.2401210 |
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| author | Yvonne Bohr Jeffrey Hankey Alaina Thomas Marette Abdelmaseh Leigh Armour Hugh McCague Jenna Barnhardt Megis Oskalns Nichaela Garvey Yogita Singh Cassie Danz Chelsea Singoorie Reuben Qaunaq Iola Oshoweetok Mathijs Lucassen Sally Merry Matthew Shepherd Marc H. Bornstein Farah Ahmad Shmuel Shulman Jonathan Weiss |
| author_facet | Yvonne Bohr Jeffrey Hankey Alaina Thomas Marette Abdelmaseh Leigh Armour Hugh McCague Jenna Barnhardt Megis Oskalns Nichaela Garvey Yogita Singh Cassie Danz Chelsea Singoorie Reuben Qaunaq Iola Oshoweetok Mathijs Lucassen Sally Merry Matthew Shepherd Marc H. Bornstein Farah Ahmad Shmuel Shulman Jonathan Weiss |
| author_sort | Yvonne Bohr |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Inuit youth in Nunavut (NU) are resilient but face a protracted suicide crisis. The SPARX serious game and e-intervention, developed originally in New Zealand, teaches youth cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) skills to ameliorate stress and depression. Inuit youth in NU reviewed and culturally adapted SPARX and an existing wellness outcome measure for Inuit. One hundred and twenty-one youth, aged 13 to 24, across NU then tested, played, and evaluated I(nuit)-SPARX, showing improvement in several areas of wellbeing post-play. Youth completed a CBT skills survey, engaged in sharing circles to assess CBT skill retention, and shared their thoughts about the usefulness and cultural fit of I-SPARX with Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ). Communication Skills, Listening Skills, and Problem Solving emerged as the most helpful learned CBT skills, and NU youth provided real-world examples of using I-SPARX skills to support their mental wellness. Several principles of IQ were exemplified and upheld in the content of the adapted SPARX tool and the process of the project as a whole. Empirically grounded, asynchronous e-tools, developed in collaboration with Inuit communities to ensure cultural specificity, may support psychological wellness in communities where mental health resources are scarce. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-7c6de911e9cf46fd9bbfe86eac1c834e |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2242-3982 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Circumpolar Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-7c6de911e9cf46fd9bbfe86eac1c834e2025-08-20T02:49:06ZengTaylor & Francis GroupInternational Journal of Circumpolar Health2242-39822024-12-0183110.1080/22423982.2024.2401210A Nunavut community-directed Inuit youth mental wellness initiative: making I-SPARX flyYvonne Bohr0Jeffrey Hankey1Alaina Thomas2Marette Abdelmaseh3Leigh Armour4Hugh McCague5Jenna Barnhardt6Megis Oskalns7Nichaela Garvey8Yogita Singh9Cassie Danz10Chelsea Singoorie11Reuben Qaunaq12Iola Oshoweetok13Mathijs Lucassen14Sally Merry15Matthew Shepherd16Marc H. Bornstein17Farah Ahmad18Shmuel Shulman19Jonathan Weiss20Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health, York University, Toronto, ON, CanadaDepartment of Psychology, Faculty of Health, York University, Toronto, ON, CanadaDepartment of Psychology, Faculty of Health, York University, Toronto, ON, CanadaDepartment of Psychology, Faculty of Health, York University, Toronto, ON, CanadaDepartment of Psychology, Faculty of Health, York University, Toronto, ON, CanadaDepartment of Psychology, Faculty of Health, York University, Toronto, ON, CanadaDepartment of Psychology, Faculty of Health, York University, Toronto, ON, CanadaDepartment of Psychology, Faculty of Health, York University, Toronto, ON, CanadaDepartment of Psychology, Faculty of Health, York University, Toronto, ON, CanadaDepartment of Psychology, Faculty of Health, York University, Toronto, ON, CanadaDepartment of Psychology, Faculty of Health, York University, Toronto, ON, CanadaNunabox, Iqaluit, NU, CanadaIkpiarjuk/Δᒃᐱᐊᕐᔪᒃ/Arctic Bay, Arctic Bay, NU, CanadaKinngait/ᑭᙵᐃᑦ/Cape Dorset, Cape Dorset, NU, CanadaNunabox, Iqaluit, NU, CanadaSchool of Health and Medical Sciences, City, University of London, London, UKSchool of Psychology, Massey University, Auckland, New ZealandEunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD, USASchool of Health Policy & Management, Faculty of Health, York University, Toronto, ON, CanadaDepartment of Psychology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, IsraelDepartment of Psychology, Faculty of Health, York University, Toronto, ON, CanadaInuit youth in Nunavut (NU) are resilient but face a protracted suicide crisis. The SPARX serious game and e-intervention, developed originally in New Zealand, teaches youth cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) skills to ameliorate stress and depression. Inuit youth in NU reviewed and culturally adapted SPARX and an existing wellness outcome measure for Inuit. One hundred and twenty-one youth, aged 13 to 24, across NU then tested, played, and evaluated I(nuit)-SPARX, showing improvement in several areas of wellbeing post-play. Youth completed a CBT skills survey, engaged in sharing circles to assess CBT skill retention, and shared their thoughts about the usefulness and cultural fit of I-SPARX with Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ). Communication Skills, Listening Skills, and Problem Solving emerged as the most helpful learned CBT skills, and NU youth provided real-world examples of using I-SPARX skills to support their mental wellness. Several principles of IQ were exemplified and upheld in the content of the adapted SPARX tool and the process of the project as a whole. Empirically grounded, asynchronous e-tools, developed in collaboration with Inuit communities to ensure cultural specificity, may support psychological wellness in communities where mental health resources are scarce.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/22423982.2024.2401210Community-based participatory action researchserious gamesmental wellnessInuitcognitive behavioural therapyadolescent health |
| spellingShingle | Yvonne Bohr Jeffrey Hankey Alaina Thomas Marette Abdelmaseh Leigh Armour Hugh McCague Jenna Barnhardt Megis Oskalns Nichaela Garvey Yogita Singh Cassie Danz Chelsea Singoorie Reuben Qaunaq Iola Oshoweetok Mathijs Lucassen Sally Merry Matthew Shepherd Marc H. Bornstein Farah Ahmad Shmuel Shulman Jonathan Weiss A Nunavut community-directed Inuit youth mental wellness initiative: making I-SPARX fly International Journal of Circumpolar Health Community-based participatory action research serious games mental wellness Inuit cognitive behavioural therapy adolescent health |
| title | A Nunavut community-directed Inuit youth mental wellness initiative: making I-SPARX fly |
| title_full | A Nunavut community-directed Inuit youth mental wellness initiative: making I-SPARX fly |
| title_fullStr | A Nunavut community-directed Inuit youth mental wellness initiative: making I-SPARX fly |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Nunavut community-directed Inuit youth mental wellness initiative: making I-SPARX fly |
| title_short | A Nunavut community-directed Inuit youth mental wellness initiative: making I-SPARX fly |
| title_sort | nunavut community directed inuit youth mental wellness initiative making i sparx fly |
| topic | Community-based participatory action research serious games mental wellness Inuit cognitive behavioural therapy adolescent health |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/22423982.2024.2401210 |
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