Fatima Verrijt
Theme 3: Responsibility American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) communities are offering culturally-based programs to address health disparities including depression, anxiety, and substance misuse. This presentation focuses on the evaluation of a culturally- and community-based program, called Native Spirit (NS), that serves as one example of creating our own evidence to promote wellbeing. The NS program has 13 interchangeable sessions, is based on local cultural values and practices, and each session is facilitated by a different cultural knowledge holder. This mixed-methods evaluation implemented a convergent parallel design with surveys at three timepoints (N = 18) and participant interviews (N =11) to assess the impact of NS on awareness of connectedness, self-esteem, resilience, and substance use. A random coefficients model was used to test changes in survey outcomes over time. A one-sided test revealed a significant increase in resilience scores over time, ß = 0.16, p = 0.047. Scores for self-esteem (ß = 0.07, p = 0.14), substance use (ß = -0.01, p = 0.41), and awareness of connectedness (ß = 0.02, p = 0.34) remained stable over time. Convergent interview themes confirmed strengthened resilience through connectedness to culture, community, and self. Participants also identified aspects of cultural engagement (e.g., intergenerational support and time commitment) that attenuate substance use initiation. Since 2015, NS has built practice-based evidence of positive (statistically significant increases in cultural identity and resilience scores) for AIAN youth engagement in cultural practices and highlights the potential of the program to effect change in AIAN youth and their communities.