A culturally based wellness intervention with American Indian children


Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

3154.0: Monday, December 12, 2005 - Board 5

Abstract #115150

Katherine Glaser, MPH¹, Norma Gray, PhD², Denise E. Wolf, MPH², Mary Z. Mays, PhD³, and Janice Jirsak². (1) Mel & Enid Zuckerman Arizona College of Public Health, University of Arizona, 48 N. Tucson Blvd., Suite 101, Tucson, AZ 85716, 520-891-1198, glaser@email.arizona.edu, (2) Health Promotion Sciences, University of Arizona Mel & Enid Zuckerman Arizona College of Public Health, 48 N. Tucson Blvd., Suite 101, Tucson, AZ 85716, (3) Family and Community Medicine, University of Arizona College of Medicine, 48 N. Tucson Blvd., Suite 101A, Tucson, AZ 85716

This culturally based children's wellness and substance use prevention program was developed with participation of Tribal elders and community members. Six three-hour group sessions focused on increasing wellness, self-concept, and stress reduction/conflict resolution skills within the context of Tribal culture and history. The 31 participants (55 % female) were the children of women in a ten-session women's wellness program and they ranged in age from 7 to 12 years. Participants completed a structured interview before and approximately 3 – 6 months after participating in the six sessions. The interviews focused on risk and protective factors including symptoms of depression, self-concept, anxiety, and anger as measured by the Beck Youth Inventories. Twenty-eight of the 31 children who initially enrolled in the intervention completed the program and the follow-up interview. Results demonstrated significant improvement in symptoms of depression, anxiety, and anger. However, self-concept did not improve. These results suggest that a brief intervention of this type may enhance children's ability to stay healthy and maintain resiliency as they cope with life stress. This presentation will describe the intervention in detail and discuss cultural and methodological issues related to the results.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of the session, the participant will be able to

· Identify risk and protective factors for substance use and other problems in American Indian children.
· Describe the implementation process of a community based participatory research wellness program for American Indian children.
· Discuss the cultural and methodological issues related to this type of prevention intervention.

Keywords: American Indians, Children and Adolescents

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Public Health Strategies for Child Health Promotion

The 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition (December 10-14, 2005) of APHA