Strengthening health interventions in indigenous communities with culturally-responsive evaluation: A yup'ik-centered approach

Evaluation is a tool used to assess the effectiveness of social, health, and education programs and interventions in order to recognize program strengths and also to improve them. When research studies or health interventions take place in indigenous communities, there is a need for culturally-responsive evaluation of these programs. A participatory evaluation process based on the community's perspectives and measures of success can offer an in-depth examination about the program's community-wide impact and elucidate ways in which the program can be improved. The Fisheries-to-School (F2S) program is a community-based participatory research (CBPR) project designed to increase food security and improve diet quality in Alaska Native communities while simultaneously strengthening local and regional markets for sustainably harvested fish by reconnecting school children with their local food system. Researchers worked in partnership with a community advisory council to inform the intervention design and evaluation.The presentation will discuss how a Yup'ik-centered participatory evaluation process set the foundation for a mutually beneficial partnership between researchers and community members in designing and implementing a food-system intervention. We will critically examine the development of a participatory culture-centered evaluation tool that integrated community perspectives in understanding the success and unexpected outcomes of this multidisciplinary intervention. We will describe the challenges and opportunities of developing of the F2S evaluation and discuss the implications of a culture-centered evaluation that coordinates community-ownership of the research process as a long-term strategy to promote health among indigenous youth.