Understanding Interpersonal Influences on Biopsychosocial Health Through the Indigenous Connectedness Framework: A Scoping Review

Objectives Elevating Indigenous knowledge and scholarship is an important part of expanding our understanding of the impacts of interpersonal processes on biopsychosocial health. Connectedness is an integral component of health for many Indigenous communities, as articulated in the Indigenous Connectedness Framework (ICF). We conducted a scoping review to identify the literature examining connectedness within Indigenous communities including how connectedness was measured, situated within the Framework, and how they are related to different types of health outcomes. Methods Our scoping review involved the PubMed and PsychINFO databases and included a combination of search terms related to Indigenous populations, connectedness, and health. Our protocol aligned with the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Results We identified 29 articles that met inclusion criteria. Most articles measured connectedness via self-report and the mechanisms of connectedness from the ICF were represented consistently, with Spiritual connectedness as the most common mechanism and Intergenerational connectedness as the least common. Different patterns of association among connectedness mechanisms and health emerged for physical health compared to mental health outcomes. Conclusion Our findings illustrate the importance of examining connectedness to family, community, land, and spirituality in Indigenous health, which are often overlooked in Western science models. This mapping of studies using the ICF lays the foundation for future studies on connectedness and health, particularly those which may examine the exact connectedness mechanisms that impact health and wellbeing. We uplift the ICF as one which centers Indigenous epistemology of relationality and expanded kinship systems profoundly shapes individual and collective health.