Building a Tribal–Academic Partnership to Address PTSD, Substance Misuse, and HIV Among American Indian Women

• Published in: Health promotion practice Vol. 20; no. 1; pp. 48 - 56
• Main Authors: Pearson, Cynthia R., Smartlowit-Briggs, Lucy, Belcourt, Annie, Bedard-Gilligan, Michele, Kaysen, Debra
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA Sage Publications, Inc 01.01.2019; SAGE Publications; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Agency and Equity in Health Promotion Partnerships; American Indians; Bidirectionality; Collaboration; Community health; Community health care; Community Networks - organization & administration; Community research; Community-Based Participatory Research - organization & administration; Development strategies; Drug abuse; Female; Health status; HIV; HIV Infections - therapy; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Indians, North American - statistics & numerical data; Infrastructure; Intervention; Matrices; Medical research; Native North Americans; Needs assessment; Participatory research; Portfolios; Post traumatic stress disorder; Research funding; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - therapy; Substance abuse; Substance-Related Disorders - therapy; Teams; United States; United States Indian Health Service - organization & administration; Women; Womens health; United States; United States > US; American Indian and Alaskan Native; PTSD; partnership development; HIV; CPT; cognitive processing therapy; community-based participatory research; CBPR; posttraumatic stress disorder
• ISSN: 1524-8399; 1552-6372
• DOI: 10.1177/1524839918762122

Objectives. To describe our partnership and research infrastructure development strategies and discuss steps in developing a culturally grounded framework to obtain data and identify a trauma-informed evidence-based intervention. Method. We present funding strategies that develop and maintain the partnership and tools that guided research development. We share how a community research committee was formed and the steps taken to clarify the health concern and develop a culturally tailored framework. We present results from our needs/assets assessment that led to the selection of a trauma-informed intervention. Finally, we describe the agreements and protocols developed. Results. We produced a strong sustainable research team that brought program and research funding to the community. We created a framework and matrix of program objectives grounded in community knowledge. We produced preliminary data and research and publication guidelines that have facilitated program and research funding to address community-driven concerns. Conclusions. This study highlights the importance of bidirectional collaboration with American Indian communities, as well as the time and funding needed to maintain these relationships. A long-term approach is necessary to build a sustainable research infrastructure. Developing effective and efficient ways to build culturally based community research portfolios provides a critical step toward improving individual and community health outcomes.