Exploring community-level mechanisms of protection and resilience for Alaska Native youth

NIH RePORTER · NIH · U19 · $106,391 · view on reporter.nih.gov ↗

Abstract

This supplement application will build on the primary aims of the Alaska Native Community Resilience Study (ANCRS), and responds to ANCRS collaborator guidance, by investigating rural Alaska Native youth perspectives of community-level protective factors, and testing an innovative research dissemination strategy. Youth ages 15-24 residing in three highly-protective rural Alaska Native communities, one from each of the 3 regions of the parent ANCRS study (N=18), will be empowered to share their stories on thriving. Analyses of qualitative youth interview data will identify community protective factors prioritized by youth, and provide in-depth youth perspectives of how community-level protective factors support wellbeing. The qualitative data from this supplement will be combined with the quantitative findings from the parent study to validate and contextualize findings and investigate how community-level protective factors function in the lives of Alaska Native youth. The drafted theoretical model of community resilience will be tested in this supplement. The produced digital stories will be tested as a dissemination strategy augmentation for increased community engagement in research findings. The specific aims and hypotheses of the supplemental specific aims (SSA) are aligned with the parent ANCRS. The ANCRS SA1 identified community-level youth protective factors, while SA2 investigated how individual-level resilience mapped onto community-level protective factors identified in SA1. SA3 will develop and disseminate a tool for communities to measure and strengthen their capacity to prevent youth suicide. SSA1: Test the Alaska Native Community Resilience Model by using mixed methods to triangulate results. Research Question: What community-level factors do youth identify as important for their wellness? SSA2: Test the impact of research dissemination with youth digital stories on community members’ knowledge, engagement, and satisfaction with research findings, and intent to use findings to reduce suicide risk. Research Question: Are youth-produced digital stories an engaging and preferred strategy for sharing findings from the ANCRS with rural Alaska Native community members, compared to dissemination as usual?

Key facts

NIH application ID
10136476
Project number
3U19MH113138-04S1
Recipient
UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA FAIRBANKS
Principal Investigator
STACY M. RASMUS
Activity code
U19
Funding institute
NIH
Fiscal year
2020
Award amount
$106,391
Award type
3
Project period
2017-06-01 → 2022-05-31