Dr. Nicole Thomas
PhD, RN - Postdoctoral Fellow in Research/Academia
University of Wisconsin-Madison, United States of America
 

Purpose: Settler colonialism is a powerful determinant of health. Yet, there is a dearth of comprehensive literature relevant to relationships between settler colonialism and the health outcomes of Indigenous peoples within the United States. This discursive analysis examines how systemic factors (both) reproduce the structure of settler colonialism and influence health outcomes among Indigenous peoples in the United States through settler colonial determinants of Indigenous health.

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Methods: For this discursive analysis, we searched PubMed, CINAHL, and Google Scholar between September 2022 and January 2023, for empirical and grey literature.

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Results: The presentation provides a critical analysis of settler colonial determinants of Indigenous health, proposes relationships between settler colonialism and health outcomes, and identifies specific settler colonial determinants of Indigenous health to help guide discourse, research and policy priorities, and the development of nursing theory. A conceptual framework of settler colonial determinants of Indigenous health within the United States is presented.

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Conclusion: This presentation provides a meaningful contribution to how the structure of settler colonialism in the United States has relationships to structural and systemic inequities, racism, and deleterious health outcomes of Indigenous peoples while highlighting protective factors that buffer these assaults.