Project Leader:  Dr. Jaedon Avey | Southcentral Foundation

Abstract

Major health disparities persist among Alaska Native and American Indian (ANAI) communities, such as suicide, domestic violence, alcohol dependence, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and obesity. These health disparities result in a shortened lifespan, decreased quality of life, and a burden to many ANAI families as they strive towards wellness. Clinical research of health services is pivotal to reducing disparities because it informs health interventions and programs by providing a evidence and facilitating service reimbursement. Southcentral Foundation (SCF) is an Alaska Native tribal health organization responsible for providing primary care services to Alaska Native (AN) people living within the urban Anchorage, Alaska area. The area is home to nearly half of the AN statewide population. SCF is well suited to conduct clinical research, but randomized controlled trials (RCTs), “the gold standard” for testing intervention efficacy, may fail to receive the support of tribal and institutional leaders or receive extraordinary scrutiny before receiving support. Even with tribal and institutional support, recruiting a sufficient number of participants for adequate statistical power can be a challenge, the reasons of which are not always clear. The focus of this project is to understand factors that contribute to the decision to participate or recommend RCTs and other clinical research to family and friends among customer-owners, providers, and tribal leaders at SCF.

In this project development effort, researchers propose to:

  1. Generate research methodology scenarios and discussion questions relating to preferences not addressed in the literature,
  2. Conduct interviews with three tribal leaders and seven providers to elicit their perceptions of the scenarios, and
  3. Host a half day research forum to elicit perceptions from approximately 25 AN/AI adults (≥18).

Scenarios will examine research methodologies, designs, controls, and sampling approaches. Understanding community preferences regarding RCTs and clinical research methodologies will allow researchers to better design acceptable, feasible, and rigorous research as future projects are planned.