American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research最新文献

Tribal Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) and other entities that oversee research for American Indians and Alaska Natives are important and unique. They reflect and respond to community needs, changes in research, and revisions to research policy. We provide a framework to capture this dynamism by building on existing work and offering a way to describe the scope of entities that oversee tribal research. As federal research regulations are revised, and policies are developed in response to a rapidly advancing research landscape, it is critical that policy makers, IRB professionals, researchers, and tribal communities have clarity regarding the Tribal IRB.

A qualitative study was conducted to assess interest in contingency management (CM) for younger American Indian (AI) adults (18-29 years old), how to culturally and developmentally adapt CM for younger AI adults, and interest in CM relative to culturally grounded treatment approaches. We conducted a total of four focus groups with younger adults and families in two AI communities: a rural reservation and an urban Indian health clinic (n = 32). Four overarching themes emerged suggesting that offering prizes, cultural activities, and activities that capture the attention of younger adults integrated into the CM intervention is ideal for enhancing engagement.

The Culture is Prevention Project is a multi-phased communitybased participatory research project that was initiated by six urban American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) health organizations in northern California. Issues driving the project were: i) concerns about the lack of culturally informed or Indigenous methods of evaluating the positive health outcomes of culture-based programs to improve mental health and well-being; and ii) providing an approach that demonstrates the relationship between AI/AN culture and health. Most federal and state funding sources require interventions and subsequent measures focused on risk, harm, disease, and illness reduction, rather than on strength, health, healing, and wellness improvement. This creates significant challenges for AI/AN communities to measure the true impact of local strength and resiliency-based wellness programs. This paper focuses on the methods and results from Phase 3 of the Culture is Prevention Project where we adapted the 29-item Cultual Connectedness Scale (CCS), developed in Canada, to be appropriate for California's multi-tribal communities. The resulting new Cultural Connectivity Scale - California (CCS-CA) was developed by urban AI/AN people for urban AI/AN people. The process, instrument, how to adapt for your community, and implications are reviewed.

Urban American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth represent a unique and growing population in the United States. Culture and participation in cultural activities is associated with resilience; however, urban AI/AN youth often report limited access to their culture. This paper presents results from a mixed-method feasibility evaluation of the Native Youth Leaders (NYL) program, a culturally-grounded youth program for urban AI youth. The NYL feasibility evaluation sought to answer two questions: (1) is the NYL program feasible and appropriate and (2) what are urban AI youth perspectives on the NYL program? Results indicate the NYL program was feasible and appropriate for urban AI youth. Recommendations may be useful to other tribal organizations as they design and implement culture-based programs for urban AI youth.

American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) are subject to widespread cultural misrepresentations ranging from intrusive questions about ethnic identity to Native-themed sports team mascots. Racial microaggressions are linked to negative physical health, mental health, and academic consequences for AI/ANs. This study examines microaggressions experienced by AI/AN post-secondary students in New Mexico and Oklahoma. Microaggression prevalence ratings and associated distress were compared across region, gender, income, age, and cultural involvement. Results showed microaggressions were highly prevalent among AI/AN students in New Mexico and Oklahoma and varied by demographic and cultural factors. Increased AI/AN microaggressions research is needed to bring awareness, education, and solutions.

Indigenous youth suffer from high rates of comorbid mental and physical health disease. The purpose of this research was to evaluate an existing intervention aimed at empowering Indigenous youth, using a qualitative, community-based participatory research method. We completed focus groups with 23 program participants, and analysis revealed positive improvements in physical, emotional, social, and cultural domains. Participants noted that key social, familial, and cultural aspects of the intervention were most impactful for them. Informed by the participants' experiences, these findings offer guidance for developing interventions to reduce and/or prevent mental and physical health disparities for Indigenous youth and young adults.

Many American Indian (AI) healers are faced with a dilemma of how to maintain the ceremonial uses of traditional tobacco meant to encourage the restoration and balance of mind, body, and spirit, while discouraging commercial tobacco use and protecting against secondhand smoke exposure in ceremonial settings. To explore this dilemma and offer culturally informed solutions, researchers conducted qualitative interviews with Navajo healers who describe the history and role of commercial tobacco within ceremonial contexts. Healers understand the importance of their role on their community's health and expressed deep concern about the use of commercial tobacco in the ceremonial setting. Healers play an important role in curbing the use of commercial tobacco and limiting the exposure to secondhand smoke in ceremonial settings and beyond. Study implications include the importance of understanding traditional and cultural knowledge and its potential as a pathway to solve contemporary public health issues facing AI communities.

American Indians and Alaska Natives experience pervasive mental, behavioral, and physical health disparities, yet access to culturally relevant and evidenced-based programs (EBPs) are severely limited. The purpose of this research is to describe the process of conducting a rigorous and culturally sensitive research approach, which was used to inform the development of a family-based substance abuse and violence prevention program that promotes resilience. The focus of this article is on the process of this development, rather than the intervention itself. We utilize a convergent mixed-methods design with distinct tribes in the Southeast that included 436 research participants across individual, family, and focus group interviews, field notes and existing data, and a quantitative survey (n = 127). This community-engaged, culturally sensitive, and rigorous research methodology provides a road-map for developing culturally relevant interventions.