C O N N E C T E D N O R T H : A J O U R N E Y O F T R A N S F O R M AT I O N & W E L L- B E I N G
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7. A New Approach to Well-Being
Connected North provides a platform of intersection for exploring Well-Being and promoting it within FNMI communities
and beyond.
A new approach to Well-Being views Connected North as part of an ecosystem that supports, promotes, and creates
space for health through connecting people, ideas, and opportunities together. This perspective requires a systems
approach to understanding Well-Being and its promotion and the ways in which a program like Connected North
can serve as a pathway to true healing – repair, reflection, learning, and growth (Katz, 1982; Katz et al., 1997). This
is a developmental, holistic, system-focused approach that considers the needs, aspirations, skills, and potential of
everyone involved with the program.
This approach to Well-Being promotion and development is realized differently with each of the groups involved in
Connected North. This approach encompasses a variety of Well-Being perspectives in a holistic manner and is guided
by a set of principles that inform the way Well-Being is manifest within each population/group engaged with Connected
North. It is through this principled lens that we can understand the pathways to Well-Being for everyone involved. To
help illustrate the overlapping concepts of Well-Being – traditional academic, First Nations-connected frameworks,
and those connected to the Connected North principles and Well-Being model – the relevant concepts are highlighted
in bold.
