IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v373y2025ics0277953625003211.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

“We do not stop being Indigenous when we are in pain”: An integrative review of the lived experiences of chronic pain among Indigenous peoples

Author

Listed:
  • Gaspar Fernandes, Lívia
  • Davies, Cheryl
  • Jaye, Chrystal
  • Hay-Smith, Jean
  • Devan, Hemakumar

Abstract

Chronic non-cancer pain is a major burden worldwide. Indigenous communities experience additional inequities in pain care and management influenced by long-standing impacts of colonization, including systemic racism, oppression, and marginalization. Traditional healing knowledges, practices and methods are valued by Indigenous people when managing their pain. However, mainstream health services often disregard this knowledge and fail to provide culturally safe management strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Gaspar Fernandes, Lívia & Davies, Cheryl & Jaye, Chrystal & Hay-Smith, Jean & Devan, Hemakumar, 2025. "“We do not stop being Indigenous when we are in pain”: An integrative review of the lived experiences of chronic pain among Indigenous peoples," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 373(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:373:y:2025:i:c:s0277953625003211
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.117991
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953625003211
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.117991?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Paul E Farmer & Bruce Nizeye & Sara Stulac & Salmaan Keshavjee, 2006. "Structural Violence and Clinical Medicine," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 3(10), pages 1-6, October.
    2. Cheryl Bartlett & Murdena Marshall & Albert Marshall, 2012. "Two-Eyed Seeing and other lessons learned within a co-learning journey of bringing together indigenous and mainstream knowledges and ways of knowing," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 2(4), pages 331-340, November.
    3. Chakanyuka, Christina & Bacsu, Juanita-Dawne R. & DesRoches, Andrea & Dame, Jessy & Carrier, Leah & Symenuk, Paisly & O'Connell, Megan E. & Crowshoe, Lynden & Walker, Jennifer & Bourque Bearskin, Lisa, 2022. "Indigenous-specific cultural safety within health and dementia care: A scoping review of reviews," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 293(C).
    4. Garroutte, Eva Marie & Sarkisian, Natalia & Goldberg, Jack & Buchwald, Dedra & Beals, Janette, 2008. "Perceptions of medical interactions between healthcare providers and American Indian older adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(4), pages 546-556, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mindy Jewell Price & Alex Latta & Andrew Spring & Jennifer Temmer & Carla Johnston & Lloyd Chicot & Jessica Jumbo & Margaret Leishman, 2022. "Agroecology in the North: Centering Indigenous food sovereignty and land stewardship in agriculture “frontiers”," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 39(4), pages 1191-1206, December.
    2. Grace H. Fan, 2024. "Can You Hear Nature Sing? Enacting the Syilx Ethical Practice of Nʕawqnwixʷ to Reconstruct the Relationships Between Humans and Nature," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 195(2), pages 249-268, November.
    3. Shelley T. Price & Christopher M. Hartt & Albert J. Mills & Nia F. MacFarlane, 2022. "Indigenous and gendered persons and peoples in business ethics education: Intersections of Indigenous wisdoms and de Beauvoirian existentialism," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 131-150, January.
    4. Michael A. Flynn & Pietra Check & Andrea L. Steege & Jacqueline M. Sivén & Laura N. Syron, 2021. "Health Equity and a Paradigm Shift in Occupational Safety and Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-13, December.
    5. Ana Deaconu & Malek Batal & Claudia Irene Calderón & Patrick Caron & Jessica Mcnally & Emile Frison & Geneviève Mercille & Mylène Riva & Ben Brisbois, 2024. "Food systems innovation to nurture equity and resilience globally (food SINERGY): Insights from the food SINERGY network," Post-Print hal-05182602, HAL.
    6. Dhruv Lalkiya & Vahid Mehrnoush & Walid Shahrour, 2025. "Using the Fraser’s Triangle to Examine the Social Determinants of Health in Indigenous People across Northwestern Ontario," International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation, International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI), vol. 12(15), pages 1062-1068, June.
    7. Colin Forsyth & Sheba Meymandi & Ilan Moss & Jason Cone & Rachel Cohen & Carolina Batista, 2019. "Proposed multidimensional framework for understanding Chagas disease healthcare barriers in the United States," PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(9), pages 1-23, September.
    8. Yang, Lawrence H. & Chen, Fang-pei & Sia, Kathleen Janel & Lam, Jonathan & Lam, Katherine & Ngo, Hong & Lee, Sing & Kleinman, Arthur & Good, Byron, 2014. "“What matters most:” A cultural mechanism moderating structural vulnerability and moral experience of mental illness stigma," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 84-93.
    9. Marlow, Marguerite & Christie, Hope & Skeen, Sarah & Rabie, Stephan & Louw, Jacobus G. & Swartz, Leslie & Mofokeng, Shoeshoe & Makhetha, Moroesi & Tomlinson, Mark, 2021. "Alcohol use during pregnancy in rural Lesotho: “There is nothing else except alcohol”," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 291(C).
    10. Hoelting, Kristin R. & Morse, Joshua W. & Gould, Rachelle K. & Martinez, Doreen E. & Hauptfeld, Rina S. & Cravens, Amanda E. & Breslow, Sara J. & Bair, Lucas S. & Schuster, Rudy M. & Gavin, Michael C., 2024. "Opportunities for improved consideration of cultural benefits in environmental decision-Making," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    11. Richardson, Eugene T. & Malik, Momin M. & Darity, William A. & Mullen, A. Kirsten & Morse, Michelle E. & Malik, Maya & Maybank, Aletha & Bassett, Mary T. & Farmer, Paul E. & Worden, Lee & Jones, James, 2021. "Reparations for Black American descendants of persons enslaved in the U.S. and their potential impact on SARS-CoV-2 transmission," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    12. Lyla Mehta, 2025. "The Challenges of Decolonising Sustainability and the Environment in Development Studies (DS)," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 37(2), pages 454-466, April.
    13. Brianna Poirier & Hannah Tait Neufeld, 2023. "“We Need to Live off the Land”: An Exploration and Conceptualization of Community-Based Indigenous Food Sovereignty Experiences and Practices," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-17, March.
    14. Fatima Ahmed & Eric N. Liberda & Andrew Solomon & Roger Davey & Bernard Sutherland & Leonard J. S. Tsuji, 2023. "Indigenous Land-Based Approaches to Well-Being: The Niska (Goose) Harvesting Program in Subarctic Ontario, Canada," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-29, February.
    15. Metzl, Jonathan M. & Hansen, Helena, 2014. "Structural competency: Theorizing a new medical engagement with stigma and inequality," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 126-133.
    16. Ilaria Tocco Tussardi, 2025. "The Future of Healthcare Management: A Social Medicine Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 22(6), pages 1-4, May.
    17. Jasmine Wu & Victoria Smye & Bill Hill & Joseph Antone & Arlene MacDougall, 2023. "Exploration of Existing Integrated Mental Health and Addictions Care Services for Indigenous Peoples in Canada," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(11), pages 1-14, May.
    18. Friedman, Joseph & Calderon-Villarreal, Alhelí & Heggebø, Kristian & Balaj, Mirza & Bambra, Clare & Eikemo, Terje Andreas, 2021. "COVID-19 and the Nordic Paradox: a call to measure the inequality reducing benefits of welfare systems in the wake of the pandemic," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 289(C).
    19. Amy L. Wright & Susan M. Jack & Marilyn Ballantyne & Chelsea Gabel & Rachel Bomberry & Olive Wahoush, 2019. "Indigenous mothers' experiences of using acute care health services for their infants," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(21-22), pages 3935-3948, November.
    20. Jonathan Bullen & Trish Hill-Wall & Kate Anderson & Alex Brown & Clint Bracknell & Elizabeth A. Newnham & Gail Garvey & Lea Waters, 2023. "From Deficit to Strength-Based Aboriginal Health Research—Moving toward Flourishing," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(7), pages 1-20, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:373:y:2025:i:c:s0277953625003211. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.