Collecting Family Health History to Improve Health and Wellness: A Native Story of Community Based Research, Design, Implementation and Evaluation

Background: Generations of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) families have recounted their history through the oral tradition of storytelling. This tradition is a valuable method for sharing health information. Family medical history has been proven to be an effective predictor of disease risk, yet in many cases this information is not collected by the provider or accurately known by the patient. The combined collection of oral and medical history in the family can help individuals make healthy choices and assist in addressing health disparities experienced by AI/AN.

Objective: Adapt the Family Health History Awareness Tool to effectively bridge the gap between the medical history record and the AI/AN oral tradition. Apply Community Based Participatory Research principals to design, implement and evaluate the adapted tool in an urban AI/AN community. Methods: A Community Advisory Board consisting of experts and community members will develop and review all project aspects, procedures and tools. A sample of 25 families will participate in the evaluation. Participants will be surveyed at baseline and follow-up. The evaluation design is based on Social Learning Theory.

Findings: The project is a successful merging of AI/AN storytelling and the family medical history to address health disparities. Using a community based approach; the project will result in a tool to encourage traditional storytelling to drive the collection of family health history and promote healthy lifestyle behavior.