Mental health concerns of small business entrepreneurs due to financial distress in the Indigenous communities of Yukon Territory

Tasha Lee Schwantz

Impact

  • The findings will provide recommendations on policy interventions involving community development principles, health, and local service networks to promote mental health, education and early intervention.

  • The findings will also suggest strategies for fostering mental health literacy within the community of Yukon Territory.

  • Yukon Territory

  • Studentship

  • Yukon University

  • Na-Cho Nyak Dun First Nations Community

  • Mitacs

  • 2021-2022

  • Indigenous Community Mental Health

  • Indigenous Population, Business Owners

About the Project

This research project examines the effects of financial distress on mental health (including anxiety, stress and depression) among small business entrepreneurs within the Indigenous community of Na-Cho Nyak Dun First Nation community in Yukon Territory.

Methodology

Surveys were conducted among small business entrepreneurs of the Na-Cho Nyak Dun First Nation community to understand the effects of different factors of financial distress (low income, job losses, outdated technology) that led to mental health concerns.

Findings

  • The financial distress among small business entrepreneurs is mostly due to job losses and shifts to online shopping.

  • Entrepreneurs who experience job loss because of business downturns encounter heightened mental stress, which may result in enduring depression. Prolonged periods of anxiety, mental stress and depression may lead to addiction to alcohol and drugs.

  • It is pivotal to examine the mental health disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations in Canada. The mental health concerns of Indigenous communities in financial distress are related to the intergenerational effects of residential schools, cultural assimilation and mental health services gaps.

  • It is important to investigate further the relationship of economic hardships with mental health concerns across genders and age within Indigenous communities.

Project Outreach

The project was exclusively conducted for the Na-Cho Nyak Dun First Nation community in Yukon Territory.

Resources Created

  • 1 Community Paper