This article describes the participatory process used to adapt PC CARES from one region of Alaska to another, aiming to maximize transferability, practicality and relevance in our partner communities. With the shared goal of promoting self-determined, evidence-informed, community-based suicide prevention, the adaptation process involved collaborating with tribal communities to revise curriculum, materials, and measurement tools; negotiating between comprehensiveness and understandability; subject appeal and utility; predictability and customizability, through consensus-building. Lessons learned through this process can be helpful to others working to navigate community-specific priorities and evidence-based approaches to develop interventions that can work across many different communities. Because suicide is deeply connected to local, historical and relational contexts, effective prevention strategies must balance maintaining fidelity of evidence-based practices and adapting for the unique needs of diverse communities.
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Citation:
Wexler, L., Schmidt, T., White, L., Wells, C. C., Rataj, S., Moto, R., Kirk, T., & McEachern, D. (2022). Collaboratively Adapting Culturally-Respectful, Locally-Relevant Suicide Prevention for Newly Participating Alaska Native Communities. Journal for Social Action in Counseling & Psychology, 14(1), 124–151. https://doi.org/10.33043/JSACP.14.1.124-151