Intertribal Talking Circle for the prevention of alcohol and drug use among Native American youth.

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a culturally based intervention, the Intertribal Talking Circle program, compared to a standard alcohol and drug abuse education, the Be A Winner program. Community-based participatory research was used to implement a two-condition, quasi-experimental study. The sample included 540 Native American youth ages 10-12 years old from three tribal areas in the United States. Data were collected at baseline, 6 and 12-months post-intervention for both the intervention and control groups using demographic, cultural identity, alcohol use, and drug use questionnaires. Regression models evaluated participants' improvement in decreasing alcohol and drug use and increasing cultural identity. Findings revealed that alcohol and drug use decreased more significantly among youth who participated in the Intertribal Talking Circle (ITC) intervention program than youth who participated in a standard alcohol and drug abuse education Be A Winner (BAW) program. Cultural identity also increased more significantly among participants who completed the Talking Circle intervention program. Native American youth ages 10-12 years old respond positively to a culturally based intervention for the reduction of alcohol and drug use. The findings highlight the importance of cultural values and identity and their significance in preventing and reducing alcohol and drug use among Native American youth.

A Cultural-Based approach to address substance use among urban Native American young adults.

Native American young adults residing in urban communities are particularly vulnerable to substance use. After leaving high school, the pressures and stress of continuing education, finding employment, and the responsibilities related to family and tribal community obligations predispose these young adults to substance use. This study used a pre/post test design to evaluate a cultural-based Talking Circle intervention for the prevention of substance use among urban Native American young adults, ages 18-24. Three measures were used that included the Native-Reliance Questionnaire, the Indigenous-Global Assessment of Individual Needs (I-GAIN) Substance Use Scale, and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) measure for severity of depression. Findings revealed that participants demonstrated a higher sense of Native-Reliance, decrease in substance use, and a decrease in the PHQ-9 depressions scores from baseline to 6-month postintervention. These findings validate the importance of cultural-based interventions for the prevention of substance use among urban Native American young adults.

Vaccines, Herd Immunity, and COVID-19.

Vaccines in America have led to the eradication of transmissible infections and the reduction of vaccine preventable diseases among all age groups. Vaccines are important to the safety and welfare of our nation because vaccines produce immunity from infectious diseases. When most of the American population is vaccinated against COVID-19 and other transmittable diseases, herd or community immunity can slow disease transmission, including protection against the disease among persons who have not received the vaccines, and reduce the risk at-large of severe infections and adverse consequences of those diseases.