Recent perspectives on Indigenous health have recognized language, culture, and values as central to well-being and recovery from historical trauma. Health coalitions, which identify community health concerns and mobilize members to implement strategies for change, have begun to shift their focus from programs to policy, systems, and environmental change but have been slower to recognize the possibilities of centering Indigenous ways of being in their work. This article details a case study of the Menominee Wellness Initiative, an Indigenous health coalition that has increasingly made language, culture, and collective values the focus of their health promotion work, and often due to the participation and influence of community organizers in the coalition. The study is presented as a collaborative writing effort between coalition members and academic partners. Qualitative data were gathered through observations of coalition meetings; in-depth, semistructured interviews with coalition members; and interactive data analysis discussions within the collaborative writing team. In the results, we describe how the shift in the coalition’s framework came to be and the influence this shift has had on the coalition, its activities, and its community impacts. These findings illustrate and extend understanding of several principles of Collaborating for Equity and Justice and supports literature and practice related to health promotion through the centering of Indigenous ways.

Researchers examined 88 near-death experiencers' (NDErs') perceptions of 188 of their most noteworthy experiences disclosing their near-death experiences (NDEs) to professional healthcare providers-medical, mental, social, and spiritual/religious. Participants scored 7 or higher on the NDE Scale and were 72% female and 28% male; aged 21 to 81 years, mean age 56; 89% Caucasian, 3% Native American, 1% Black, 1% Hispanic, and 6% mixed or other; and 18% Protestant, 6% Roman Catholic, 2% Jewish, 1% Buddhist, 51% spiritual-not religious, and 21% no or other religious or spiritual affiliation. The Near-Death Experiencers' Experiences of Disclosure Scale (NEEDS) was developed to assess the extent that an NDEr perceived a confidante to have recognized their NDE and considered it at least potentially real and to have avoided pathologizing or demonizing the NDE or NDEr; the NEEDS proved valid and reliable. Results indicated that 19% of NDErs reported negative responses from all types of healthcare providers with no significant difference between professional groups, with no effect, F(3, 184) ϭ .67, p ϭ .57, p 2 ϭ .01 and no significant difference by year of NDE, with small effect (1934 -2010), R ϭ .01, F(1, 186) ϭ .02. Participants reported significantly more negative experiences of disclosure the sooner they disclosed, with a small effect, B ϭ Ϫ.26, t ϭ Ϫ3.59, p Ͻ .01, and the deeper their NDE, with a small effect (r ϭ .21, p Ͻ .01). The researchers concluded that, to do no harm, all healthcare providers need to be better educated about NDEs.

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Community coalitions can address local issues with deep, historic, and contextual understanding that enables customized implementation of evidence-based strategies. The individuals within the coalition, their partnerships, and the social context is likely an important component of unraveling the challenges of implementation so interventions reach people in need. We focus on the relevance of baseline coalition-committee network (CCN), the networks of purposely formed subcommittees within community coalitions, structure as one of the moderating, theoretical links between community coalition social networks and intervention success. We explore the baseline composition and characteristics of five CCNs at the beginning of childhood obesity prevention interventions. Using a combination of social network, multidimensional scaling, and correspondence analyses, we examine the structure and heterogeneity of five CCNs, each consisting of a core group of stakeholders in the coalition and sometimes the broader community itself. Cross-sectional analyses are used to examine the composition of coalition-committees related to network density, centralization, hierarchy, and coalition demographics and characteristics. Results indicate that CCNs are patterned in their structure and characteristics, and we discuss whether adjustments to childhood obesity prevention interventions according to baseline structure and characteristics could be advantageous for intervention implementation. Together, these findings can inform future longitudinal investigations into CCN network structure.

There is an abundance of community-based research literature that incorporates complex system science concepts and techniques. However, currently there is a gap in how these concepts and techniques are being used, and, more broadly, how these two fields complement one another. The debate on how complex systems science meaningfully bolsters the deployment of community-based research has not yet reached consensus, therefore, we present a protocol for a new scoping review that will identify characteristics at the intersection of community-based research and complex systems science. This knowledge will enhance the understanding of how complex systems science, a quickly evolving field, is being utilized in community-based research and practice.