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Working Together: Wellness and Academic Achievement at Tribal Colleges and Universities

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Title: Working Together: Wellness and Academic Achievement at Tribal Colleges and Universities
Language: English
Authors: Duran, Bonnie, Magarati, Maya, Parker, Myra, Egashira, Leo, Kipp, Billie Jo
Source: Tribal College Journal of American Indian Higher Education. Oct 2013 25(2).
Availability: Tribal College Journal of American Indian Higher Education. P.O. Box 720, Mancos, CO 81328. Tel: 888-899-6693; Fax: 970-533-9145; Web site: http://www.tribalcollegejournal.org
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 2
Publication Date: 2013
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education
Postsecondary Education
Descriptors: Tribally Controlled Education, Wellness, Health Promotion, Substance Abuse, Mental Health, American Indian Students, American Indian Culture, Cultural Relevance, Prevention, Academic Achievement, Participatory Research, Tribes, Community Involvement, Decision Making, Power Structure, Colleges, School Community Relationship
Geographic Terms: Washington
ISSN: 1052-5505
Abstract: This article describes the activities of the Indigenous Wellness Research Institute (IWRI) at the University of Washington, Washington State, in collaborating with tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) to examine alcohol, drug, and mental health issues among Native students. The authors provide first steps for the development of culturally appropriate and sustainable alcohol and drug abuse treatment and prevention strategies that have enhanced postsecondary academic success among Native students. Community-based participatory research approaches that engage tribal communities in decision-making and power-sharing are the continued goals of the TCU-IWRI.
Abstractor: ERIC
Number of References: 7
Entry Date: 2014
Access URL: https://www.tribalcollegejournal.org/archives/27654
Accession Number: EJ1036362
Database: ERIC
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  Value: <anid>AN0091982950;5pg01dec.13;2013Nov16.11:55;v2.2.460</anid> <title id="AN0091982950-1">WORKING TOGETHER </title> <sbt id="AN0091982950-2">Wellness and Academic Achievement at Tribal Colleges and Universities</sbt> <p>Alcohol, drug, and mental health (ADM) problems are major and longstanding public health concerns at mainstream U.S. colleges and universities that result in deaths, addiction, injury, and academic failure (O'Malley & Johnston, 2002). However, research has not yet established ADM trends in student populations at tribal colleges and universities (TCUs). Without data, anecdotal stories of lived experience provide recognition that ADM is a major problem. In a 2003 editorial, the editor of the Journal of American Indian Higher Education wrote:</p> <p>Tribal college faculty stand at the front lines in the battle for students' lives. After attending two funerals for students in six months, one instructor told us, "When you say, 'Have a good weekend, 'you never know who you will see on Monday." Another said, "Your heart can only break so many times. "</p> <p>Due to a complex confluence of historic and present-day forces (Duran & Duran, 1995), Native people in general, and those who drop out of college, specifically, are at higher risk for ADM-related problems than those who remain in school (Montgomery, Miville, Winterowd, Jeffries, & Baysden, 2000). Increasing student retention at all levels of the educational system, therefore, is an important goal for individual and community wellness.</p> <p>TCUs are unique institutions centered on reaffirming and strengthening Native cultural heritage and advancing Indigenous knowledge (Boyer, 2008). TCU faculty, staff, and programs provide resources for students to overcome the barriers existing in mainstream higher education, such as discrimination and micro-aggressions, isolation, distance from home, finances, educational irrelevance, etc. (Roy, Bhasin, & Arriaga, 2011). For example, Native college students attending non-TCU institutions were found to have more serious drinking-related problems and were more likely to drink for escapist or social reasons and to "get high" than White students (Ward & Ridolfo, 2011). Support systems offered at TCUs may attenuate such trends.</p> <p>TCUs can also serve as sites for alcohol and other drug (AOD) screening, prevention, and intervention. AOD-related harm is associated with numerous American Indian health disparities compared to the general U.S. population, including unintentional injuries (149% higher), homicide (92% higher), and suicide (72% higher). The percentage of Native adults who needed treatment for problems related to drug or alcohol use was nearly double the national average (18.0% vs. 9.6%), yet only 12.6% of American Indians in need of treatment received it at a specialty facility (United States. Indian Health Service. Division of Program Statistics, 2005). Although there is no data from TCU student populations and therefore impossible to estimate the impact of their AOD use, this overall disparity suggests an important role for TCUs as sites for AOD screening, prevention, and treatment services, which may benefit both students and the larger tribal community.</p> <hd id="AN0091982950-3">TCUs AND THE INDIGENOUS WELLNESS RESEARCH INSTITUTE</hd> <p>The Indigenous Wellness Research Institute (IWRI) at the University of Washington was established in 2004 by Drs. Karina Walters (Choctaw) and Tessa Evans Campbell (Snohomish). Its mission is to support the inherent rights of Indigenous peoples to achieve full and complete health and wellness by collaborating in decolonizing research and knowledge building and sharing. Dr. Bonnie Duran (Opelousas/Coushatta) joined the IWRI staff and the University of Washington School of Public Health in 2007 and created the Center for Indigenous Health Research within IWRI. In 2008, the president of Northwest Indian College (NWIC), Dr. Cheryl Crazy Bull (Sicangu Lakota), invited IWRI to partner with NWIC on a National Institutes of Health Native American Research Centers for Health grant, marking the beginning of the IWRI--TCU partnership.</p> <p>It takes numerous stakeholders, working together in an accountable and equitable framework, to study ADM problems at TCUs. From that beginning at NWIC, a large collaboration of institutions, agencies, programs, and individuals has come together to begin AOD work at tribal colleges and universities, including IWRI, the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC), the NWIC Center for Health, the Institute for Health and Recovery, the University of Washington's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute, the Center for the Study of Health Risk Behaviors at the University of Washington, as well as many TCU presidents and community liaisons. TCU presidents and advocates have repeatedly stressed the need for a strength-based approach--one that identifies community assets as opposed to simply cataloging problems. We use a theoretical model, called the socioecological framework, and an Indigenous stress and coping model that has been widely adopted in American Indian public health. These models enable us to include both risks as well as protective factors at multiple levels.</p> <hd id="AN0091982950-4">THE TCU DRUG AND ALCOHOL PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS STUDY</hd> <p>Working with NWIC, AIHEC, and advocates from 27 TCUs, the IWRI team and partners secured funding from the National Institutes of Drug Abuse and approval from 27 TCUs for a drug and alcohol problems and solutions study. The aim of the web-based survey was to better understand how TCU community members perceive underage and other problem drinking, drug use, and risk and protective factors, such as age, gender, culture, or spirituality. We also wanted to learn about promising and current practices for alcohol and drug prevention, screening, treatment, and referral services. Finally, we were interested in TCU readiness for student interventions to address AOD issues.</p> <p>Approximately 480 TCU students, faculty, and administrators were invited to participate in this study. A sample of 340 students, faculty, and staff in 27 participating TCUs answered the survey. The results revealed that the participants perceive that AOD use is a problem on TCU campuses. It also revealed that TCUs have a high level of social capital--the expected collective or economic benefits derived from the social networks and cooperation between individuals and groups--and are ready to address AOD problems (see table 1).</p> <p>While the figures in table 1 are perceptions, they no doubt reflect a concern about serious drug and alcohol problems at TCUs, which are not unlike similar problems at mainstream colleges and universities. The study's entire dataset was returned to TCUs at an IWRI partnership meeting in the Suquamish Nation. Further, the study's publication committee, with representatives from TCUs, provides a forum for the continued analysis of these findings and seeks to publish the results in journals and other media.</p> <hd id="AN0091982950-5">NEXT STEPS</hd> <p>Since the beginning of this partnership, IWRI and tribal colleges and universities have been successful in obtaining two more grants to enhance academic achievement by addressing ADM needs at TCUs. The National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities has awarded the partnership a grant to conduct a psychiatric epidemiology study. To date, 20 TCUs have agreed to partner in the study. The National Institute of Alcohol and Alcoholism awarded a second grant to adapt a successful alcohol harm-reduction intervention.</p> <p>These are the first steps to develop a culturally appropriate and sustainable alcohol and drug abuse treatment and prevention strategy for TCUs, which in turn enhances postsecondary academic success among Native students. The TCU-IWRI research partnership has and will continue to utilize a community-based participatory research approach that engages tribal community constituents in decision-making and power-sharing in all aspects of the process, including planning, implementation, analysis, ownership of data, and dissemination of results.</p> <hd id="AN0091982950-6">Table 1. Tribal Colleges and Universities Student, Faculty and Staff Perceptions of Campus Alcohol and Drug Use Problems; Source TCU-DAPSS 2012</hd> <ct id="AN0091982950-7"> Legend for Chart: A - Perceptions B - 27 Participating TCUs Students C - 27 Participating TCUs Faculty/Staff A B C Alcohol Use and Norms at TCUs Agree that addressing alcohol problems would help 79% 91% improve academic performance of students Agree that half or more students appear N/A 23% to be experiencing alcohol problems Drinking alcohol is a normal activity among male students 82% 86% female students 85% 82% Drug Use and Norms at TCUs Taking drugs is a normal activity among male students 52% 51% female students 44% 46% Consequences of Alcohol and Driu Use Problems at TCUs Interrupts other students' studying 60% 60% Makes other students feel unsafe 53% 56% Interferes with student's relationships 56% 62% TCU Social Capital (Somewhat/Strongly Agree; If a student has alcohol or drug problems, 53% 67% TCU faculty and staff will step in Traditional activities bring people together 77% 87% regardless of conflicts on the campus</ct> <hd id="AN0091982950-8">Graph 1. Percentage of respondents who strongly agreed to the statements below regarding the sense of community at TCUs.</hd> <ct id="AN0091982950-9"> Faculty-Staff Student Survey Survey Traditional activities bring 87% 77% people together regardless of conflicts on the campus If a student has alcohol or 67% 53% drug problems, faculty and staff will step in People demonstrate respect 94% 88% for the beliefs and values of other people's spiritual/ religious traditions *N=225</ct> <hd id="AN0091982950-10">Graph 2. Race/ethnic origin of survey participants.</hd> <ct id="AN0091982950-11"> Student Survey Faculty-Staff Survey American Indian/Alaska Native 90% 69% Other 10% 31%</ct> <p>A SYNERGISTIC PARTNERSHIP From left: Carrie Billy of AIHEC, Greer McSpadden of the Institute of American Indian Arts, Katy den Heeten of Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College, Cindy Cultee of Northwest Indian College, and Laurel Vermilion of Sitting Bull College.</p> <hd id="AN0091982950-12">REFERENCES</hd> <p>Boyer, P. (2008). Tribal college and university profiles: New directions in math and science. Pablo, MT: Salish Kootenai College Press.</p> <p>Duran, E., & Duran, B. (1995). Native American postcolonial psychology. Albany: State University of New York Press.</p> <p>Indian Health Service, Division of Program Statistics. (2005). Regional differences in Indian health, 2002-2003 (pp. v.). Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.</p> <p>Montgomery, D., Miville, M. L., Winterowd, C., Jeffries, B., & Baysden, M. F. (2000). American Indian college students: An exploration into resiliency factors revealed through personal stories. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 6(<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref1">4</reflink>), 387-398.</p> <p>O'Malley, P. M., & Johnston, L. D. (2002). Epidemiology of alcohol and other drug use among American college students. Journal of Studies on Alcohol. Supplement no. 14, 23-39.</p> <p>Roy, L., Bhasin, A., & Arriaga, S.K. (2011). Tribal libraries, archives, and museums: Preserving our language, memory, and lifeways. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.</p> <p>Ward, B. W., & Ridolfo, H. (2011). Alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug use among Native American college students: An exploratory quantitative analysis. Substance Use and Misuse, 46(<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref2">11</reflink>), 1410-1419.</p> <aug> <p>By Bonnie Duran, Dr.P.H.; Maya Magarati, Ph.D.; Myra Parker, Ph.D., J.D.; Leo Egashira, M.BA. and Billie Jo Kipp, Ph.D.</p> <p></p> <p>Bonnie Duran, Dr.PH.; Maya Magarati, Ph.D.; Myra Parker, Ph.D., J.D.; and Leo Egashira, M.B.A. of University of Washington's IWRI collaborated with Billie Jo Kipp, Ph.D., president of Blackfeet Community College, and 26 other TCUs to produce this article. This project was funded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse (grant no. 1R01DA029001) via the Indian Health Service's Native American Research Centers for Health mechanism to Northwest Indian College and the University of Washington.</p> </aug> <nolink nlid="nl1" bibid="bib4" firstref="ref1"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl2" bibid="bib11" firstref="ref2"></nolink>
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  Data: This article describes the activities of the Indigenous Wellness Research Institute (IWRI) at the University of Washington, Washington State, in collaborating with tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) to examine alcohol, drug, and mental health issues among Native students. The authors provide first steps for the development of culturally appropriate and sustainable alcohol and drug abuse treatment and prevention strategies that have enhanced postsecondary academic success among Native students. Community-based participatory research approaches that engage tribal communities in decision-making and power-sharing are the continued goals of the TCU-IWRI.
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