R01DA050521

Discovering Our Story, to Develop the Chemawa Journey of Transformation - Substance use and sexual health risk are increasingly prevalent, costly, and deadly -- fueling a synergistic epidemic in the United States (US) that disproportionately affects American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) communities.

AIAN youth are at the heart of the AIAN health crisis. They are disproportionately affected by many of these historical, structural, social, and behavioral factors that contribute to significant health disparities, including high alcohol, tobacco, opiate, and other drug (ATOD) use, and sexual and reproductive health risks (SRH; ATOD-SHR).

The overall mean age of tobacco use, alcohol use, and marijuana initiation for AIANs is much younger (11.5 years) than the general population, with AIAN youth having the highest prevalence of smoking and the earliest age of first use of ATOD. Alarmingly, more than 20% of Native high school students who used a prescription pain med without a prescription also used heroin in the past 30 days.

Substance use is one of the most significant risk factors for unprotected sex, and AIAN youth have the earliest age of first sexual intercourse. AIANs under 25 years of age have three times the rate of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis compared to white youth. Taken together, these ATOD-SHR disparities underscore the urgent need for interventions that simultaneously target ATOD and SHR among AI teens.

While there is a paucity of research addressing the ATOD-SRH prevention needs of AIAN youth in general, there is even less information available on ATOD-SRH-related disparities for the nearly 1 out of 10 AIAN youth attending the 183 tribal day or boarding schools nationwide.

To address this crisis and the dearth of evidence-based programs for this population, the proposed study, prepared in response to PAR-17-496, involves a 5-year RO1 to test the preliminary efficacy of the Chemawa Journey of Transformation–Native Youth Health Leadership Program (CHJ). This program is an adapted and expanded version of the Discovering Our Story intervention, a 2010 SAMSHA-identified best practice AIAN strengths-based comprehensive substance use and health risk prevention and health leadership program for AIAN youth.

The CJOT emphasizes a holistic, positive youth approach that incorporates storytelling with traditional archetypes and responsibilities as both a process and metaphor for guiding AIAN youth through behavioral change. The CJOT is a culturally-centered experiential 8-week (10 sessions) school-based positive youth health leadership development intervention to prevent ATOD use and SHR among AIAN youth (ages 13-16).

The program involves a 2-month intervention (3 individual sessions + 10 sessions) + 5 booster sessions, including digital storytelling training + 1 community event (digital and oral storytelling premiere) that targets behavior change relative to storytelling and a youth-led storytelling event.

University Of Washington

TO SUPPORT BASIC AND CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCE, BIOMEDICAL, BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE, EPIDEMIOLOGIC, HEALTH SERVICES AND HEALTH DISPARITY RESEARCH. TO DEVELOP NEW KNOWLEDGE AND APPROACHES RELATED TO THE PREVENTION, DIAGNOSIS, TREATMENT, ETIOLOGY, AND CONSEQUENCES OF DRUG ABUSE AND ADDICTION, INCLUDING HIV/AIDS. TO SUPPORT RESEARCH TRAINING AND RESEARCH SCIENTIST DEVELOPMENT. TO SUPPORT DISSEMINATION OF RESEARCH FINDINGS. SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) LEGISLATION IS INTENDED TO EXPAND AND IMPROVE THE SBIR PROGRAMS TO EMPHASIZE AND INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPED THROUGH FEDERAL SBIR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, INCREASE SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION IN FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN THE SBIR PROGRAM. THE LEGISLATION INTENDS THAT THE SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (STTR) PROGRAM STIMULATE AND FOSTER SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION THROUGH COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CARRIED OUT BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, FOSTER TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION.

93.279 - Drug Abuse and Addiction Research Programs

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) [HHS - NIH]

Washington United States

State-Wide

Intervention Research to Improve Native American Health (R01 Clinical Trial Optional) (PAR-17-496)

Amendment Since initial award the total obligations have increased 380% from $667,085 to $3,201,461.