Enhancing Health Research Results Dissemination for American Indian and Alaska Native Communities through Indigenous...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Communication
• Indigenous Health Research

Background:

• American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities experience significant health disparities.
• AI/AN populations are often underrepresented in health research dissemination.
• Current communication tools may not be culturally relevant or accessible to AI/AN communities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To co-design and evaluate a prototype for disseminating health research results to AI/AN communities.
• To address the need for culturally relevant and accessible health communication tools for AI/AN populations.
• To foster stronger community connections and improve research representation.

Main Methods:

• Co-design workshops with AI/AN individuals informed prototype development.
• Evaluation of a prototype health research dissemination tool by 38 AI/AN participants.
• Gathering feedback on search functionality, usability, visual elements, and content accessibility.

Main Results:

• Participants highlighted the importance of search functionality, ease of use, and interactive elements.
• Key feedback emphasized the need for community connection, educational resources, and personalized experiences.
• The evaluation provided insights for iterating the prototype to better meet community needs.

Conclusions:

• The Indigenous Community-Centered Design approach offers a framework for creating effective health research communication tools.
• Accessible and engaging dissemination tools are crucial for empowering AI/AN communities with health research findings.
• This work promotes more accurate research representation and stronger community-researcher relationships.