Meeting the Transition Needs of Urban American Indian/Alaska Native Youth through Culturally Based Services

Abstract

This article reports findings from three qualitative studies exploring supports for positive transitions of American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth to adulthood. Community-based participatory methods were employed through a research partnership involving a culturally based community agency, the Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA), the National Indian Child Welfare Association, and Portland State University. Studies utilized a Relational Worldview (RWV) framework, where well-being is understood as a balance among the domains of mind, body, spirit, and context. Collectively, findings demonstrate that NAYA employs culturally grounded interventions to overcome the traumatic histories and current oppressive conditions affecting low-income urban AI/AN youth with mental health challenges and to support their well-being and transition to adulthood. In addition, addressing the mental health and well-being of AI/AN youth in culturally appropriate ways involves consideration of all RWV domains. Recommendations for behavioral health practice are to connect AI/AN youth to culturally specific services whenever possible, utilize cultural consultants, and implement holistic and positive approaches to mental health.

Developing an Indigenous Measure of Overall Health and Well-being: The Wicozani Instrument

“…This concept mirrors the Dakota philosophy of mitakuye owas’in , which loosely translates as ‘all my relatives’ and conveys the interconnectedness between all things. The PSMM was chosen because sense of belonging is a central feature of Indigenous worldview (Wilson, 2008), and the very fabric of Dakota culture is based on relationality (Deloria, 1998; Friesen et al, 2015). Further, researchers contend that sense of belonging is important to everyone because it is a basic human function and a component of well-being that leads to positive emotions, behaviors, and outcomes (Hagerty, Lunch-Bauer, Patusky, Bouwsema, & Collier, 1992; Strayhorn, 2012).…”

Adolescent well‐being: A concept analysis

“…This requires efforts from parents, schools, and communities to create a supportive environment for adolescents (Laski, 2015). Taken together, these facts call for an urgent need for preventative healthcare and supportive services targeting adolescents for the promotion of their well‐being (Aldrich, 2018; Friesen et al ., 2015; WHO, 2018b).…”

Health-Related Participatory Research in American Indian and Alaska Native Communities: A Scoping Review

“…A culturally tailored website that distinguished between culturally appropriate uses of tobacco (e.g., ceremonial pipe-smoking) and tobacco abuse and addiction was developed for a smoking cessation study [86]. A study on the needs of AIAN youth transitioning into adulthood incorporated the community’s concept of the medicine wheel into a holistic approach to case management [87]. In another study, tribal elders worked with researchers to design a culturally appropriate playground that included traditional housing structures and enabled children to engage in subsistence activities [33].…”

“…One study conducted focus groups in Navajo for the express purpose of encouraging participation by elders [80] and other studies explicitly sought input from elders [93,94]. Other studies recruited elders as members of the research team, where they filled various roles, including mentoring participants in healthy behaviors [95], serving as a tribal outreach coordinator [32], and reviewing study findings [87]. Elders serving on Elder councils and CAGs helped evaluate and approve proposals [14,34].…”