Overview:
The Caring for Native American Elders Project has been active
since 2002. Historically, Native American elders
have held unique and honored positions in their communities. Their
greater life experience, historical perspective, spiritual
knowledge, and closer ties to the old ways of tribal ancestors
make them a valuable resource for younger people. Yet
increasingly elder mistreatment is reported as a serious
problem in Native American communities.
This concern was voiced by a Native American community
member who believed others in the community had concerns
as well. Using a community-based participatory approach,
our cross-cultural team developed a project that could begin
to address elder mistreatment concerns in this community. In
the spirit of reciprocity, we designed a project that would
combine the collection of data with the provision of a service.
Data have been collected through the use of interviews to
learn about a) the perceived extent of elder mistreatment,
b) the forms it takes, c) the current means of addressing
elder mistreatment, d) the feasibility of implementing a
family conference intervention, and e) the community strengths
that may facilitate the implementation and sustainability
of the project.
The service component has involved the implementation of
the Family Care Conference (FCC). The FCC is a family
conference intervention adapted from a model developed by
the Maori of New Zealand who were concerned that western
European ways of addressing child welfare issues were undermining
family and community values. Consistent with a perspective
of restorative justice rather than punitive justice, the
FCC provides the opportunity for family members, service
providers, and a spiritual leader to come together to address
elder mistreatment concerns. This model has been readily
accepted by the Native American families with whom we’ve
worked because of values similar to the Maori such as the
definition and meaning of family, spirituality, the use of
ritual, and the value of non-interference.
Since the beginning pilot work, the project was strengthened
in the first community, when we hired three community members
to facilitate FCCs over the course of two years. Subsequently,
a community agency has taken responsibility for the FCC intervention. The
project has grown, in different stages, to involve two additional
communities.
Funding: NIH/NINR P30 NR03979; NIH/NINR P20 NR07790;
NIH/NINR R21 NR008528; NIH/NINR R03 NR009282; John A.
Hartford Foundation’s Building Academic Geriatric Nursing
Capacity Scholarship Program
Team:
