Factors that sustain indigenous youth mentoring programs: a qualitative systematic review

James Sanchez; Jade Maiden; Elsa Barton; Lucie Walters; Donna Quinn; Nathan Jones; Aunty Kerrie Doyle; David Lim

doi:10.1186/s12889-023-15253-2

Factors that sustain indigenous youth mentoring programs: a qualitative systematic review

BMC Public Health. 2023 Mar 6;23(1):429. doi: 10.1186/s12889-023-15253-2.

Authors

James Sanchez¹, Jade Maiden^{2

3}, Elsa Barton², Lucie Walters⁴, Donna Quinn^{2

5}, Nathan Jones⁶, Aunty Kerrie Doyle¹, David Lim^{7

8}

Affiliations

¹ Translational Health Research Institute, School of Health Sciences, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, Australia.
² College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Bedford Park, Australia.
³ First Peoples Disability Network (Australia), Sydney South, Australia.
⁴ Adelaide Rural Clinical School, The University of Adelaide, Mount Gambier, Australia.
⁵ University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia.
⁶ South Western Sydney Local Health District, Liverpool, Australia.
⁷ Translational Health Research Institute, School of Health Sciences, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, Australia. david.lim@westernsydney.edu.au.
⁸ College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Bedford Park, Australia. david.lim@westernsydney.edu.au.

Abstract

Background: Indigenous youth worldwide continue to experience disproportional rates of poorer mental health and well-being compared to non-Indigenous youth. Mentoring has been known to establish favorable outcomes in many areas of health but is still in its early phases of research within Indigenous contexts. This paper explores the barriers and facilitators of Indigenous youth mentoring programs to improve mental health outcomes and provides evidence for governments' response to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Methods: A systematic search for published studies was conducted on PubMed, Embase, Scopus, CINAHL, and grey literature through Trove, OpenGrey, Indigenous HealthInfoNet, and Informit Indigenous Collection. All papers included in the search were peer-reviewed and published from 2007 to 2021. The Joanna Briggs Institute approaches to critical appraisal, data extraction, data synthesis, and confidence of findings were used.

Results: A total of eight papers describing six mentoring programs were included in this review; six papers were from Canada, and two originated from Australia. Studies included mentor perspectives (n = 4) (incorporating views of parents, carers, Aboriginal assistant teachers, Indigenous program facilitators, young adult health leaders, and community Elders), mentee perspectives (n = 1), and both mentor and mentee perspectives (n = 3). Programs were conducted nationally (n = 3) or within specific local Indigenous communities (n = 3) with varying mentor styles and program focus. Five synthesized findings were identified from the data extraction process, each consisting of four categories. These synthesized findings were: establishing cultural relevancy, facilitating environments, building relationships, facilitating community engagement, and leadership responsibilities, which were discussed in the context of extant mentoring theoretical frameworks.

Conclusion: Mentoring is an appropriate strategy for improving general well-being. However, more research is needed to explore program sustainability and maintaining outcomes in the long term.

Keywords: Indigenous; Mental health; Mentoring; Resilience; Youth.

Publication types

Systematic Review

MeSH terms

Academies and Institutes
Adolescent
Aged
Australia
Canada
Humans
Mentoring*
Mentors
Young Adult