# Promoting Community Conversations about Research to end Native Youth Suicide in Rural Alaska - Diversity Supplement

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2020 · $68,768

## Abstract

With rates up to 18 times higher for rural Alaska Native (AN) young people when compared to all American
youth (124 vs 6.9 per 100,000), the health disparity of youth suicide continues to plague rural Indigenous
communities in Alaska. The current system of care—with a focus on mental health—is not effective: 79% of
suicide decedents and 62% of attempters received NO mental health care11. Vulnerable AN youth are more
likely to come into contact with healthcare providers, school personnel, public safety workers, and other
community members11. Additionally, friends and family members noticed signs of risk beforehand in 62% of all
recorded suicidal behavior. These villagers can offer culturally-specific social support and safety measures to
avert a suicide crisis, but they are not trained to initiate primary and secondary prevention. Currently, three
times out of four, community members mobilize only when the person is in `imminent risk' of suicide11. This
level of risk means that vulnerable AN youth are taken 500 air miles away for assessment in a confined
hospital room many associate with `jail'. After this experience, most AN youth return home less likely to seek
help the next time they feel suicidal. Late intervention cuts off options for cultural, family and community-based
care, which is preferred by AN youth and their families. To initiate activities to promote wellness, safety and
support before a suicide crisis, our tribal working group developed and piloted PC CARES: Promoting
Community Conversations About Research to End Suicide. This promising and feasible educational
intervention is led by local facilitators, and offers village stakeholders a series of learning circles to study `what
we know' from prevention research and figure out how they can apply it to their jobs, families, and lives. The
goal of the intervention is to enhance knowledge, skills and attitudes among service providers, family members
and tribal residents so that they promote wellbeing, recognize risk, support vulnerable youth, and work with
others in their community to take supportive and safety actions when they notice signs of vulnerability. Our
community intervention utilizes indigenous pedagogy and prevention science to increase village members' and
service providers' capacity to find `up-stream', self-determined and culturally-responsive ways to reduce
suicide risk. Using a community-based, participatory research (CBPR) approach, our specific aims track
change on both individual and community levels. Aim 1: Track the effect of PC CARES on participants'
knowledge, attitudes and behavior, and identify key factors influencing these outcomes over time. Aim 2:
Document the community-level impact of PC CARES by tracking the number and type of interactions aimed at
preventing youth suicide and promoting wellness in participating villages, and describe changes in the
supportive social networks of young people before and after the intervention. IMPACT: Our scalable model
of...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10085518
- **Project number:** 3R01MH112458-04S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **Principal Investigator:** Lisa M. Wexler
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $68,768
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2018-06-19 → 2023-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10085518

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10085518, Promoting Community Conversations about Research to end Native Youth Suicide in Rural Alaska - Diversity Supplement (3R01MH112458-04S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10085518. Licensed CC0.

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