Globally, climate change is leading to environmental crises, which activists have been fighting against for decades. Social scientists have rarely considered older adults as environmentalists and their feelings about climate change. Most studies focus on younger people's emotions or concerns about environmental crises.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIndigenous women in North America have traditionally had reciprocal relationships with and responsibilities to the Earth. The process of colonization violently transformed both the treatment of the Earth and of Indigenous women. Current environmental crises highlight not only the vulnerability of Indigenous women, but also their long-standing leadership in resisting environmental injustices affecting their families, relationships, and nations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOmega (Westport)
December 2018
Death, grief, and loss are common experiences for many individuals who identify as American Indian/Alaska Native, yet decidedly little is known about the lived experience of grieving in this population. To address this gap in the literature, researchers conducted a qualitative descriptive study exploring ways of grieving among 20 elders residing on a North American Ojibwe reservation. Findings derived via thematic analysis illustrate the variety of ways these elders respond to death: living through it, responding in Western or non-Traditional ways, drawing comfort from spirituality, and grieving as a community.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose Of The Study: Although advance care planning (ACP) is designed to promote person-centered end-of-life care, the principles underpinning it are at odds with the values and norms of many American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities, contributing to low rates of ACP among AI/AN elders. The purpose of this study was to explore the apparent tension between Western approaches to end-of-life care, including its emphasis on ACP, and the expectations and wishes of one community of AI elders, in hopes of informing more culturally appropriate approaches to planning for end-of-life care.
Design And Methods: About 20 tribal elders living on a Great Lakes reservation participated in semistructured, face-to-face interviews.
Am Indian Alsk Native Ment Health Res
September 2017
Utilizing community-based methods, we assessed the behavioral and physical health needs of a Detroit metropolitan Indian health clinic. The project goal was to identify health service needs for urban American Indians/Alaska Natives and develop the infrastructure for culturally competent and integrative behavioral and physical health care. We conducted 38 semi-structured interviews and 12 focus groups with service providers and community members.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Cross Cult Gerontol
March 2017
Disproportionately, American Indian grandparents assume the responsibility of raising their grandchildren. Few studies have examined the experiences of American Indian grandparents living on reservations. Utilizing Indigenous Methodologies and exploratory, in-depth interviews with 25 Lakota elders living on the reservation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this Great Lakes Indian reservation qualitative study we utilized focus groups in the form of talking circles to elicit tribal members' views of alcohol use. We report on how the elder participants utilized the talking circles to inform the youth of the deleterious effects of alcohol use and abuse. Indigenous research methods were utilized so elder tribal members were consulted about the study; an elder was hired as a research associate; youth were hired as note takers/observers; and the 2-hour groups were led by a tribal community member.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEthical decision making is critically important in hospice social work. Through in-depth interviews, researchers explored ethical dilemmas faced by 14 hospice social workers and the processes they used to move toward resolution. The dilemmas were integrated into a framework focused on the sources of ethical conflict: the client system, the agency, and the profession.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUsing data about members of a midwestern American Indian reservation in eight focus groups that were conducted like "talking circles," the authors describe the participants' (N = 49) views of the current use and abuse of tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs. Results indicate that the use of tobacco is pervasive; that the use of alcohol and other drugs, especially marijuana and oxycodone, are problems on this reservation because they are detrimental to health and well-being; and appropriate, available, and accessible treatment is scarce, nonexistent, or underfunded. Culturally sensitive substance abuse treatment and increased funding for treatment are major health issues for this population.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHIV/AIDS has steadily increased in Native American and Alaska Native populations, and despite efforts at control many challenges remain. This article examines historical, biological, social, and behavioral cofactors related to the spread of HIV/AIDS within the context of Native American culture. Special attention is given to vulnerable subgroups and to the need for culturally appropriate efforts at prevention and intervention that respect the unique needs of each group.
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