ABOUT THE WEBINAR

Please join us for this third webinar of the ICRC-S 2018-19 webinar series, Preventing Suicide by Promoting Social Connectedness: Promoting Connectedness in American Indian and Alaska Native Communities through Culture. The Qungasvik (kung-az-vik) 'Toolbox' is a multilevel strength- based intervention developed by Yup'ik communities to reduce and prevent alcohol use disorder (AUD) and suicide in 12-18 year old Yup'ik Alaska Native youth. The intervention aims to increase strengths and protections against AUD and suicide by promoting culturally meaningful 'reasons for sobriety' and 'reasons for life.' During this webinar, Dr. Stacy Rasmus, Associate Research Professor and Director of the Center for Alaska Native Health Research (CANHR) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Dr. James Allen, Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and BioBehavioral Health at the University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth campus, will describe the Qungasvik intervention and the research leading to its development, review the research on which and how social connectedness concepts are addressed in American Indian/Alaska Native cultures, and present on the path taken by Alaska Native communities to adapt and implement the intervention to their local cultural context. Participants will be able to ask questions of the presenters. 

ABOUT THE PRESENTER

Stacy Rasmus, PhD , is Associate Research Professor and Director of the Center for Alaska Native Health Research (CANHR) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Dr. Rasmus has worked with American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) communities for over two decades and has built an international program of research focusing on the promotion of Indigenous strengths, wellbeing and resilience in Alaska, the Arctic and the Pacific Northwest. Dr. Rasmus is trained in the social and behavioral sciences with specific expertise in the translation of Indigenous knowledge and practice into health interventions that are community-driven and culturally-centered. She currently leads several NIH, NSF and SAMHSA grants that together engage AIAN populations in research and evaluation initiatives to eliminate disparities in youth suicide and substance use disorders, with a special focus on alcohol, opioids and co-occurring disorders. In addition to her research program, Dr. Rasmus also directs NIH capacity building and training grants, most recently becoming the Alaska PI for the American Indian and Alaska Native Clinical Translational Research Program (AIAN CTRP), a collaborative program bridging universities and Tribal partners in Alaska and Montana. Dr. Rasmus received her PhD in anthropology from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

James Allen, PhD, is Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and BioBehavioral Health and the Memory Keepers Medical Discovery Team for Rural and American Indian Health Equity at the University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth campus. For over two decades, he has worked with a community partnership to discover Alaska Native pathways to well-being and reasons for life using strength-based approaches. The team is currently testing this Indigenous intervention in work funded by NIAAA, NIMHD, NIMH, and the IDeA program. Dr. Allen also currently collaborates with Dr. Rasmus on the NIMH/NIMHD funded Alaska Native Collaborative Hub for Research on Resilience (ANCHRR), to discover local grassroots efforts in Alaska Native youth suicide prevention and conduct the Alaska Native Community Resilience Study (ANCRS), and with research projects of the Northwest Indian College (NWIC) Native American Research Center for Health (NARCH) exploring cultural and spiritual factors in recovery from opioid addiction in Pacific Northwest and Northern Minnesota tribal communities. Completed work includes contributions to a collaborative NSF project describing the resilience strategies of circumpolar Indigenous youth and an NINDS funded study of the epidemiology of stroke and vascular risk in Alaska Native people. While a Fulbright scholar at the University of Oslo, Allen developed additional research interest in the experience of international refugees. Dr. Allen received his PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Montana and completed an internship in clinical psychology at Hutchings Psychiatric Institute in New York.