Weaving pathways: talking with our Elders.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Policy
• Public Health
• Indigenous Health

Background:

• Healthcare directives are notably scarce nationally, with even fewer existing within minority populations.
• American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) communities face significant disparities in advance care planning and healthcare directive completion.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe a model for implementing advance care planning and healthcare discussions within AIAN communities.
• To address barriers to healthcare directive completion and end-of-life discussions among AIAN individuals.

Main Methods:

• Collaboration between Honoring Choices of Minnesota and the Center of American Indian and Minority Health (CAIMH).
• Assembling AIAN students, faculty, and community members to identify barriers.
• Implementing a two-pronged approach: culturally informed provider training and culturally relevant community engagement.

Main Results:

• The project focused on empowering AIAN individuals to engage in healthcare decisions.
• A toolkit was developed to support AIAN patients and healthcare providers in advance care planning.

Conclusions:

• Culturally tailored interventions are essential for increasing healthcare directive completion in underserved populations.
• The developed model and toolkit aim to improve advance care planning accessibility and engagement for AIAN communities.