Fay Fletcher

A Culturally Adapted Drug and Alcohol Abuse Prevention Program for Aboriginal Children and Youth

Background: In response to substance abuse within their community, the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation invited the University of Alberta (UofA) to partner in a collaborative effort to establish a school-based substance abuse prevention program. Objectives: An evidence-based substance abuse prevention program was reviewed and adapted by the community to ensure that it incorporated their cultural beliefs, values, language, and visual images. The adapted program was delivered to students at Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation School and changes in student participants’ knowledge, attitudes, refusal skills, and self-beliefs were measured. Benefits and challenges of adapting the program were documented. Methods: The principles of community-based participatory research (CBPR) and the Canadian Institute for Health Research, Guidelines for Research Involving Aboriginal People, provided a frame of reference for the work throughout the research process. A pre-/posttest questionnaire was used to measure changes in student participants’ drug and alcohol refusal skills, self-beliefs, and knowledge of the negative effects of drug and alcohol use. Focus groups (FGs) documented community members’ experiences of and responses to the program adaptations and delivery. Results: Results included (1) positive changes in students’ drug and alcohol refusal skills, self-beliefs, and knowledge of the negative effects of drug and alcohol use, (2) ownership of and investment in the program by the community, (3) teaching approaches that correspond with the learning contexts, worldview, and relationships of the community, and (4) participation of community Elders. Conclusion: Quantitative and qualitative measures provide evidence for the importance, benefits, and challenges of employing a culturally adapted evidence-based substance abuse prevention program with Aboriginal students attending a First Nations school.

Partnership, Knowledge Translation, and Substance Abuse Prevention With a First Nations Community

Background: Having identified substance abuse as an issue of concern in their community, the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation invited University of Alberta researchers to partner on the cultural adaptation, delivery, and evaluation of a school-based drug and alcohol abuse prevention program. Researchers conducted a literature review of available drug and alcohol prevention programs for children and youth, identifying the Life Skills Training (LST) program as a viable model for cultural adaptation. Objectives: Four program objectives were developed: (1) Review and cultural adaptation of the elementary and junior high LST programs, (2) delivery of the adapted programs, (3) measurement of changes in students’ knowledge of the negative effects of drug and alcohol use, attitudes toward drugs and alcohol, drug and alcohol refusal and life skills, and changes in self-esteem/self-concept, and (4) documentation of the community’s experience of the project. Methods: Using the principles of community-based participatory research (CBPR), we employed both qualitative and quantitative methods to evaluate the impact of the project. Results: Qualitative evaluation of the program adaptation and implementation were both positive. Qualitative measures of program impact on students revealed a positive effect, whereas results of the quantitative measures were mixed. Conclusions: Culturally adapted, evidence-based programs can have a positive effect on Aboriginal youth and their communities. Strategies to expand knowledge translation (KT) when working with Aboriginal communities include working to create an “ethical space” that draws on the strengths of both Western and Indigenous worldviews.

Debriefs as Process Evaluation for Community Well-Being: Community-based Participatory Research with Métis Settlements in Alberta, Canada

The impacts of colonization on the physical, economic, cultural, social, and psychological well-being of Aboriginal people are well documented, and include significant disparities between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities. This chapter focuses on debriefs – reflective and reflexive group discussions – as a novel approach to monitoring and enhancing the practice of community based participatory research (CBPR) throughout the Metis Settlements Life Skills Journey (MSLSJ) project. Debriefs allow research team members, including community participants, to share problems, issues, and concerns on a regular basis, exploring the gap between the theoretical and practical in CBPR. This MSLSJ project, presented as a case study, has strong parallels with the principles of good practice in community development. We present the outcomes of relational accountability, reciprocal capacity building, and maintaining healthy boundaries as evidence of these principles in action. Further, we discuss managing responsibility and shared understanding as two overarching themes.

Little Stories of Social Justice

I begin by saying that I have not considered my work, be it teaching or research, to be a political activity. Interestingly, colleagues were not surprised that, while writing this chapter, I came to the realization that my research and teaching is political in nature and that I am a social justice educator. I have always known that my approach to both teaching and research were influenced by critical social theorists and scholars.