Stories of Indigenous sexual health: Promoting community wellness through sexual health education

Indigenous communities and peoples have experienced erosion of their sexual wellness since contact with European peoples. Effective sexual health education is a human right shown to be an important part of overall health and wellness. Little research has been done on how to develop and implement sexual health education for Indigenous populations. This study utilizes an environmental scan to gain a comprehensive understanding of programming available for Indigenous peoples in BC, coupled with conversational style interviews with community storytellers to highlight effective practices. The findings of this research demonstrated that programs focused on promoting healthy sexuality generally or preventing HIV/AIDS and STBBI transmission while promoting safety and access to culture, utilized peer led approaches, and focused primarily on delivering services to youth. Storytellers demonstrated a strong passion for building relationships with participants and communities through engaging, accessible, and relevant sexual health education.