IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v21y2024i5p563-d1385237.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Holistic Approach to Early Relational Health: Cultivating Culture, Diversity, and Equity

Author

Listed:
  • Dominique Charlot-Swilley

    (Department of Pediatrics, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, DC 20007, USA
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Kandace Thomas

    (First 8 Memphis, Memphis, TN 38104, USA)

  • Christina F. Mondi

    (Brazelton Touchpoints Center, Division of Developmental Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA)

  • David W. Willis

    (Center for the Study of Social Policy, Washington, DC 20005, USA)

  • Marie-Celeste Condon

    (Independent Consultant and Researcher, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98105, USA
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

Abstract

Early Relational Health (ERH) is the foundation for infant and child emotional and social wellbeing. ERH is a quality of relationships co-created by infants, caregivers, and other members of their families and communities from pregnancy through childhood. Relationships themselves are not ERH; rather, ERH can be a feature of relationships. Those that are characterized by positive, shared emotionality become contexts within which members co-develop mutual capacities that enable them to prevail and flourish. This essay offers a synthesis of current knowledge about ERH in the US and begins to integrate Indigenous and non-Indigenous research and knowledge about ERH in the hope that readers will embrace “ Etuaptmumk ”—“ Two-Eyed Seeing ”. The authors maintain that systems of care for infants, families, and their communities must first and foremost attend to revitalization, cultural context, diversity, equity, and inclusion. Authors discuss key concepts in ERH; Indigenous and non-Indigenous research that inform ERH; structural and systemic factors in the US that affect ERH ecosystems; the critical intersections of culture, diversity, equity; the broader concept of village support for fostering ERH; and efforts to revitalize ERH discourse, practices, and policies. The authors advocate for a holistic approach to ERH and suggest future directions for research and advocacy.

Suggested Citation

  • Dominique Charlot-Swilley & Kandace Thomas & Christina F. Mondi & David W. Willis & Marie-Celeste Condon, 2024. "A Holistic Approach to Early Relational Health: Cultivating Culture, Diversity, and Equity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(5), pages 1-19, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:21:y:2024:i:5:p:563-:d:1385237
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/5/563/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/5/563/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Abel, Sally & Park, Julie & Tipene-Leach, David & Finau, Sitaleki & Lennan, Michele, 2001. "Infant care practices in New Zealand: a cross-cultural qualitative study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 53(9), pages 1135-1148, November.
    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. Breheny, Mary & Stephens, Christine, 2007. "Irreconcilable differences: Health professionals' constructions of adolescence and motherhood," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 112-124, January.
    2. Capstick, Stuart & Norris, Pauline & Sopoaga, Faafetai & Tobata, Wale, 2009. "Relationships between health and culture in Polynesia - A review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(7), pages 1341-1348, April.
    3. Kate Anderson & Elaina Elder-Robinson & Alana Gall & Khwanruethai Ngampromwongse & Michele Connolly & Angeline Letendre & Esther Willing & Zaine Akuhata-Huntington & Kirsten Howard & Michelle Dickson , 2022. "Aspects of Wellbeing for Indigenous Youth in CANZUS Countries: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-44, October.

    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:gam:jijerp:v:21:y:2024:i:5:p:563-:d:1385237. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.