Promoting Slhánay̓ Sḵwálwen (Indigenous Women's Heart Health): Findings From Sharing Circles With Squamish Nation.

Objective: To gather knowledge and experiences from Squamish Nation citizens to codevelop a model of foraging walks for Indigenous women's heart health.

Design: Qualitative study (sharing circles).

Setting: Vancouver, Canada (virtual).

Participants: Squamish Nation community members (n = 9), Elders or Knowledge Keepers (n = 5), and researchers (n = 2).

Intervention: Community-led foraging walks as a culturally safe nutrition education strategy.

Main Outcome Measure(s): Perspectives and experiences.

Analysis: Content analysis and narrative synthesis.

Results: Personal experiences of foraging walks or knowledge of traditional plants were limited for most participants, and all desired to learn more about traditional foods using land-based activities. Participants identified a lack of nutrition education surrounding heart health and common mistreatment and judgment from health professionals. Participants identified important elements of a future Squamish program, including who should be involved, how to implement it, and the most effective temporal and physical setting. All agreed foraging walks help promote 5 dimensions of heart health (physical, emotional, spiritual, mental, and social) through physical activity, purposeful nutrition, and connection to community and culture. Findings from the sharing circles were used in the creation of a template for future foraging sessions and contributed to plant identification cards for the whole community.

Conclusions And Implications: Community-based pilot studies to test foraging walks as a culturally safe and environmental approach to nutrition education and cardiovascular health awareness for Indigenous communities are warranted. Research to examine the similarities and differences across Indigenous groups related to understanding heart health and land-based practices for nutrition education and heart health awareness is needed.