Community Engagement: Indigenous and Nonindigenous Researchers

Saturday, November 5, 2022

5:30 PM – 7:00 PM ET

Location: 201 CC

CE: 1.5

Chair(s)

Jordan Lewis, PhD, MSW, FGSA

Professor
Memory Keepers Medical Discovery Team
University of Minnesota Medical School
Duluth, Minnesota, United States

Co-Chair(s)

Steffi Kim, PhD

Senior Research Associate
Medical School
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

Individual Symposium Abstract First Author(s)

Maria Crouch, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow
Psychiatry
Yale School of Medicine
New Haven, Connecticut, United States
Steffi Kim, PhD

Senior Research Associate
Medical School
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Jordan Lewis, PhD, MSW, FGSA

Professor
Memory Keepers Medical Discovery Team
University of Minnesota Medical School
Duluth, Minnesota, United States
Lyn Holley, PhD, FAGHE

Professor
Gerontology
University of Nebraska at Omaha
Omaha, Nebraska, United States

In response to populations that have been chronically underserved and underrepresented within the social sciences, scholars have outlined the need for community-based engagement strategies and research methodologies that are able to represent the voices of those communities to promote culturally informed, appropriate, and driven health initiatives. This symposium introduces and discusses Indigenous research methodologies that are empowering and emphasize the knowledge and wisdom of Indigenous Elders, shares urban Elder engagement strategies, explores engagement strategies for Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers, and describes the impacts of exclusion of Indigenous voices from research. The first presentation by Maria Crouch and her colleagues will introduce an Elder-centered research methodology as exemplified by two research studies. The second presentation by Steffi Kim focuses on outreach and research engagement strategies to reach Alaska Native Elders in the urban environment. The third presenter, Jordan Lewis, shares and discusses community-based research as an insider and outsider in your own community, outlining research practices, positionality, and accuracy in research. Finally, Lyn Holley will discuss themes emerging from her review of the literature that explored the impacts of the application of “top-down” Eurocentric approaches to inquiry on American Native people and the implications of these findings.

Learning Objectives:

After attending this session, participants will be able to discuss culturally congruent, derived, and adaptive research methodology at the intersection of practice-based evidence and evidence-based practice.
After attending this session, participants will be able to identify how an Elder-centered research methodology is distinct and applicable for Alaska Native Elders, ethnoracial older adults, and for reconciliatory research that promotes sovereignty and traditional knowledge.
After attending this presentation, participants will be able to anticipate the impacts of the application of Eurocentric research methods to Indigenous peoples with parallel histories of colonization.

Presentations:

5:30 PM – 7:00 PM ET

Elder-Centered Research Methodology: Research That Decolonizes and Indigenizes
Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Maria C. Crouch, PhD – Yale School of Medicine
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM ET

Urban Engagement Strategies for Alaska Native Elder Participation in Research
Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Steffi M. Kim, PhD – University of Minnesota
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM ET

Conducting Community-Based Research as an Insider and Outsider in Your Own Community
Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Jordan P. Lewis, PhD, MSW, FGSA – University of Minnesota Medical School
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM ET

Examining Exclusion for Guidance to Inclusion: A Good Idea?
Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Lyn M. Holley, PhD, FAGHE – University of Nebraska at Omaha