Research on indigenous elders: from positivistic to decolonizing methodologies

• Published in: The Gerontologist Vol. 54; no. 1; p. 117
• Main Authors: Braun, Kathryn L, Browne, Colette V, Ka'opua, Lana Sue, Kim, Bum Jung, Mokuau, Noreen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.02.2014
• Subjects: Aged; Aging - ethnology; American Indian or Alaska Native; Anthropology, Cultural; Australia; Canada; Community-Based Participatory Research; Geriatrics; Humans; Male; Narration; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; New Zealand; Qualitative Research; Research Design; United States; New Zealand; Canada; Australia; United States; Qualitative research methods; Cross-cultural studies; Activism; Quantitative research methods; American Indian older adults; Methodology; Theory; Diversity and ethnicity; Life course/life span; Conceptual development
• ISSN: 1758-5341
• DOI: 10.1093/geront/gnt067

Although indigenous peoples have lower life expectancies than the social majority populations in their countries, increasing numbers of indigenous people are living into old age. Research on indigenous elders is informed by a number of research traditions. Researchers have mined existing data sets to compare characteristics of indigenous populations with non-indigenous groups, and these findings have revealed significant disparities experienced by indigenous elders. Some investigators have attempted to validate standardized research tools for use in indigenous populations. Findings from these studies have furthered our knowledge about indigenous elders and have highlighted the ways in which tools may need to be adapted to better fit indigenous views of the constructs being measured. Qualitative approaches are popular, as they allow indigenous elders to tell their stories and challenge non-indigenous investigators to acknowledge values and worldviews different from their own. Recently, efforts have extended to participatory and decolonizing research methods, which aim to empower indigenous elders as researchers. Research approaches are discussed in light of the negative experiences many indigenous peoples have had with Eurocentric research. Acknowledgment of historical trauma, life-course perspectives, phenomenology, and critical gerontology should frame future research with, rather than on, indigenous elders.