Incorporating Culture and Tradition

Incorporating Culture into Healing to Wellness Court: The Research, Tribal Law and Policy Institute (2018).


Articles

  • Pilot Outcome Results of Culturally Adapted Evidence-Based Substance Use Disorder Treatment with a Southwest Tribe, Kamilla L. Venner, et. al., 3 Addictive Behaviors Report 21-27 (2016)
    Although American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) have exhibited high rates of alcohol and drug use disorders, there is a paucity of substance use disorder treatment outcome research. In addition, there exists controversy about whether evidence-based treatments (EBTs) are culturally appropriate given that they were derived mainly by and for non-Hispanic White populations and do not explicitly include aspects of AI/AN culture and worldview. : Results suggest that culturally adapted EBTs yield significant improvements in alcohol use, psychological distress, and legal problems among AI/ANs. Future research using RCT methodology is needed to examine efficacy and effectiveness.
     
  • American Indian Belief Systems and Traditional Practices, Betty E. S. Duran, MSW, MPH, the University of Oklahoma, Evaluation Research Center, School of Social Work (April 2002). 
     
  • Cultural Continuity as a Moderator of Suicide Risk Among Canada’s First Nations, Michale J Chandler and Christopher E. Lalonde, Kimayer, L. & Valaskakis, G. (Eds.), The Mental Health of Canadian Aboriginal Peoples: Transformations, Identity, and Community, University of British Columbia Press (2009).
     
  • Indigenous Ways of Knowing as a Philosophical Base for the Promotion of Peace and Justice in Counseling Education and Psychology, Lisa Grayshield—Washo and Anita Mihecoby—Comanche, 2 Journal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology 2 (Fall 2010). 
     
  • Treatment Professionals’ Basic Beliefs About Alcohol Use Disorders: The Impact of Different Cultural Contexts, Anja Koski-Jaennes, Marjo Pennonen, and Laurence Simmat-Durand, Substance Use & Misuse, DOI: 10.3109/10826084.2015.1126736 (Mar. 4, 2016).
    The treatment of alcohol abusers in different cultural contexts does not depend only on the methods used but also on the ways in which treatment providers perceive the problem and relate to their clients. This study compares treatment professionals’ basic beliefs about alcohol use disorders in two culturally different European countries to find out to what extent these ideas are shaped by the respondents’ socio-cultural context, profession, and other background variables. Cultural factors shape the ways in which alcohol use disorders are perceived more pervasively than the other background variables. The French professionals’ low trust in treatment and the Finnish professionals’ lack of concern for the addiction potential of alcohol and stronger tendency to regard the person as responsible for the problem could be seen as potential impediments to effective ways of helping alcohol abusers in these countries.
     
  • Treatment Improvement Protocol 59: Improving Cultural Competence, SAMHSA, CDM Group, Inc., HHS Pub. No. 14-489 (2014).
    The development of culturally responsive clinical skills is vital to the effectiveness of behavioral health services. This Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) uses Sue’s (2001) multidimensional model for developing cultural competence. Adapted to address cultural competence across behavioral health settings, this model serves as a framework for targeting three organizational levels of treatment: individual counselor and staff, clinical and programmatic, and organizational and administrative. The chapters target specific racial, ethnic, and cultural considerations along with the core elements of cultural competence highlighted in the model.

Case Studies

  • Cherokee Language Revitalization Project, Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development (2005).
    In 2002, the Cherokee Nation carried out a survey of its population and found no fluent Cherokee speakers under the age of 40. The Cherokee Principal Chief declared a “state of emergency,” and the Nation acted accordingly. With great focus and determination, it launched a multi-faceted initiative designed to revitalize the Cherokee language. Using state-of-the-art knowledge and language acquisition techniques, the Project includes a language immersion program for pre-school children, a university partnership degree program to certify Cherokee language and teachers, and community language activities. The project preserve not just a language but a people–who see in their language the foundation of their own survival.

Other Resources

American Indian and Alaska Native Culture Card: A Guide to Build Cultural Awareness

Intended to enhance cultural competence when serving American Indian and Alaska Native communities. Covers regional differences; cultural customs; spirituality; communications styles; the role of veterans and the elderly, and health disparities, such as suicide.

Description and info on how to obtain hard copies http://store.samhsa.gov/product/American-Indian-and-Alaska-Native-Culture-Card/SMA08-4354

Download card itself at http://store.samhsa.gov/shin/content//SMA08-4354/SMA08-4354.pdf

Pub id:SMA08-4354
Publication Date:3/2009
Popularity:62
Format:Guidelines or Manual
Audience: Professional Care Providers, Prevention Professionals, Public Health Professionals, Disaster Response Workers as Audience
Population Group: American Indian & Alaska Native

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