Understanding the Cultural Determinants of Health: a scoping review

Current approaches to Indigenous health education are predominantly deficit-based, with limited inclusion of the cultural needs of Indigenous communities. This approach has widespread impacts on education by influencing healthcare students’ societal views and clinical healthcare delivery to Indigenous peoples, potentially contributing to Indigenous health inequities. Social determinants of health (SDH) have been used in literature to describe these inequities, yet this concept contributes to the deficit discourse narrative. Implementing the cultural determinants of health alongside the SDH shifts the focus to a strengths-based approach and provides a holistic and comprehensive lens to Indigenous health and wellbeing. However, cultural determinants of health is a new concept and there is still an unclear understanding of the term within literature. This scoping review aimed to develop an understanding of how the cultural determinants of health are represented in the literature and their role within healthcare curricula.