Abstract
Wellbeing is culturally bound and is shaped by many aspects of life, including experiences, beliefs and values. As such, in order to accurately measure wellbeing for a specific cultural group, it is necessary to understand the experiences, beliefs and values that influence the conception and experience of wellbeing of that group. This paper presents a conceptual model of wellbeing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, which was developed from a large national qualitative study that explored the views of 359 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults. An Aboriginal- and Torres Strait Islander-led research team used an Indigenist research approach to iteratively develop this conceptual model, called the Fabric of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing model, which takes inspiration from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander weaving traditions whereby individual strands are twined to create fabrics that are both beautiful and strong. This reflects our findings that the parts of life that are most important to wellbeing for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are interwoven with their families, communities and culture.
Highlights
Research attention is being paid to understanding, defining and measuring the wellbeing of Indigenous peoples around the world [1,2,3,4]
Whilst understandings do vary across cultural groups, Indigenous peoples globally commonly hold holistic and collectivist worldviews that prioritise the wellbeing of the group above one’s own individual needs [6,7,8], differing markedly from the dominant Western individual-centric worldview
This paper presents the process and results of our analysis that developed a new conceptual model for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander wellbeing—a conceptualisation that focuses on the interwoven nature of wellbeing aspects, and the idea that strong wellbeing comes from the strength and balance of the threads of the Fabric of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing
Summary
Research attention is being paid to understanding, defining and measuring the wellbeing of Indigenous peoples around the world [1,2,3,4]. Conceptions of wellbeing are culturally bound and shaped by a person’s experiences, beliefs and values [5]. Whilst understandings do vary across cultural groups, Indigenous peoples globally commonly hold holistic and collectivist worldviews that prioritise the wellbeing of the group above one’s own individual needs [6,7,8], differing markedly from the dominant Western individual-centric worldview. The ongoing intergenerational legacies of colonisation, including the disruption of family and kinship networks, loss of language and culture, and social marginalisation, impact the experience and conception of wellbeing for Indigenous peoples [9].
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