Jim Chaliak, University of Alaska-Fairbanks (UAF) Community Co-Investigator, and Dr. Diane McEachern, PC CARES Co-PI and UAF Professor, were featured on an episode of Wellness Wednesday with KYUK—the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Public Radio. They discussed and provided updates on three projects advancing community-centered suicide prevention throughout Alaska: "Because We Love You'" (BeWeL), "Alaska Native Collaboritive Hub for Research on Resilience" (ANCHRR), and "Promoting Community Conversations about Research to End Suicide" (PC CARES).
All three of these programs provide upstream strategies for preventing suicide and promoting individual and community wellbeing well before a crisis. You can listen to the episode here (36 mins), and read our highlights below.
PC CARES Turns Research into Action, Led by Community
During the broadcast, Dr. McEachern highlighted that the purpose of PC CARES is to translate “bite-size” pieces of research into actionable strategies for communities to implement and sustain. The focus of PC CARES workshops is not on the research itself, but rather how the research can generate conversation about solutions among community members.
“It takes about 10 minutes to share the research,” said McEachern. “The rest of the time is for community discussion to consider how that research fits with community knowledge and consider what they’d like to do—where would you like to make changes or what would you like to increase.”
She also emphasized the importance of training local community members to be PC CARES facilitators through the UAF Rural Human Services (RHS) Program. She echoed her students’ powerful reflections, including one that shared, “In my community a workshop like this would be done by an outside person…and I’m amazed that I’m that person now”.
Dr. McEachern concluded the segment by describing key outcomes from past evaluation research on PC CARES—such as an increase in community participants’ knowledge about suicide prevention, as well as their confidence in knowing they can do something about prevention—and outlining next steps for the project which are being funded through an Intervention Research to Improve Native American Health (IRINAH) grant.
BeWeL: Empowering Youth Through Culture and Connection
Chaliak gave an overview of the BeWeL project as a way to equip Alaska Native youth with “tools for life” by promoting cultural strengths and practices. BeWeL is a year-long program that engages young people ages 14-24 in one-on-one motivational talks. During these sessions, a Native facilitator guides each participant through discussion on how cultural strengths can offer ways to be healthy and stay healthy. He summarized BeWeL by highlighting key aims of the project: 1) connect Alaska Native young people back to their culture, 2) develop communities’ cultural strengths, and 3) help young people learn about the resources in their communities. Young people can participate in BeWeL through self-referral, health care service referral, or in-person recruitment. Those interested can learn more by visiting the BeWeL website or calling (907) 474-7758.
ANCHRR: Highlighting Community Strengths for Self-Determined Solutions
Both Dr. McEachern and Chaliak provided an update on ANCHRR, which surveyed villages with a population of over 100 about protective factors that mitigate youth suicide risk. The ANCHRR team trained RHS students to conduct interviews in 65 communities about these protective factors.
Two of the main strengths underscored by the survey results were related to tribal governance: “Governing Responsibly” and “Governing Responsively.” Or, in the words of Dr. McEachern, these factors deal with “responding to community needs and doing it responsibly”.
The final goal of ANCHRR is to create a way to share out the information about community strengths for the participating communities to self-determine the best ways to utilize and apply the project findings.
Chaliak emphasized the need for communities to be able to empower themselves with the ANCHRR data, which reflect what had already been happening in villages to support youth. Ultimately, ANCHRR, BeWeL, and PC CARES are united by a focus on the lived expertise of community members who know firsthand the power of taking a strengths-based approach to wellness.
“I have been living the content all my life,” said Chaliak.
Listen to the full episode (36 min) here!