During the Phase I developmental/planning grant from the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD), using Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) and Tribal Participatory Research (TPR) methods, we worked in partnership with the Suquamish Tribe. Through a series of key stakeholder interviews and focus groups with tribal Elders, service providers, youth and community members, the community identified alcohol and drug abuse and a need for increased cultural and community identity by youth as the two primary, and related, areas of concern. A work group composed of members from the University and Suquamish research teams, Elders, and community members developed a culturally relevant intervention to address these dual concerns, with guidance from the Tribe's Cultural Cooperative (which serves as our Community Advisory Council). The intervention and its accompanying assessment instrument have undergone an initial small pilot testing to determine issues of feasibility. The overall goals of the proposed project are (1) to continue to use the principles and methods of CBPR and TPR to further plan, refine, implement, and more rigorously evaluate this community-based and culturally congruent substance abuse prevention intervention among Suquamish tribal youth, and (2) to extend, adapt, and evaluate this model with the Port Gable S'Klallam Tribe. Both Tribes are rural, federally recognized American Indian/Alaska Native reservation communities within the same county and school district.
