COLLECTION

Community approaches to substance misuse by children – The Maraea Collection


We know the journey to helping children overcome substance misuse is a long and difficult one. So Community Research has put together a special space on our website dedicated to supporting people working in communities with children under the age of 13 who misuse substances. These resources were developed by Dr Lisa Chant and are aimed at assisting pracitioners and community groups who help children and their families.

These resources are part of the Maraea Research Project led by Dr Lisa Chant, who from 2017 to 2020 examined what remedies were working for indigenous children misusing substances, and their families and communities, in four countries – Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, USA and Canada. Read a brief outline of the Maraea Project here.

From that study, Dr Chant has developed numerous resources both for practitioners (anyone working with children and their families) and for community groups and organisations, so they can apply the knowledge shared with her by indigenous experts throughout most colonised countries, right here in Aotearoa.

We thank Dr Chant for allowing us to promote her resources, which are for all: Māori and non-Māori children and practitioners.

There are two modules that make up the resources: one for practitioners and one for both practitioners and community groups. The modules are not paper- or theory-heavy – a ‘look, listen and learn’ approach has been taken in the development of the videos to make them easily accessible. In the videos, you will see experts who work on the front-line with children misusing substances, speak and share their knowledge.

Follow each Module to guide you through the video resources on the Maraea website.

Module 1: Practitioners teaching and learning

This module is most suited to practitioners working with children and their families. The downloadable pdf is designed to guide you through the video resources on the Maraea website Practitioners page, giving a summary of each video cluster with suggested learning formats and discussion topics. It looks at:

  • Holding engagement with boys while on their well-being journey
  • Role modelling to inspire the child to become a role model themselves
  • Nurturing child and family through substance recovery
  • Traditional knowledge in programmes and services
  • Inspiring a knowledge-rich well-being journey with the child
  • Inspiring community initiatives and networks to engage with the child
  • Supporting the child within multi-generational and diverse family dynamics
  • How to connect child to community and community to child
  • Indigenous services (community health)
  • Collaborating to create unique proposals to enhance the well-being journey of the child


Module 2: Communities of practice teaching and learning

This module is most suited to both community groups or organisations supporting children and their families and their practitioners. The downloadable pdf is designed to guide you through the video resources on the Maraea website Communities of Practice page, giving a summary of the contents of each video cluster. It looks at:

  • Multi-community initiatives
  • Indigenous models
  • Setting up residential programmes
  • Overcoming unconscious systemic bias
  • Contracts vs trust and confidence
  • Working with families in remote area
  • Family as a community of practice

Meet the Practitioners

For videos introducing the practitioners featured in the modules above, click here.

Two Worlds / Indigenous Models

In August 2020, the architect of the Maraea resources, Dr Lisa Chant, gave a presentation that took a look at the bigger picture of indigenous health policy in Aotearoa New Zealand. See the presentation slides here.

Language

In some parts of the modules, Māori words are used. To get a basic understanding of those words please use the Online Māori Dictionary.

Other resources

For all resources developed by Dr Chant as part of the Maraea Research Project, go to: www.maraeacommunityresearch.com.

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