ACYRN A boriginal C ommunity Y outh R esilience N etwork Dawn Caldwell CIETcanada

ACYRN MEMBERS

3 How ACYRN came about 2003 We received ACADRE seed funding to work with two communities to develop a resiliency questionnaire for youth with a focus on suicide Funding for ACYRN was approved

ACYRN IS A RESEARCH NETWORK it unites communities and researchers in a long term relationship (5 years) it supports greater and broader capacity building because of this long term relationship it supports greater and broader capacity building because of this long term relationship it allows us (communities and researchers) to fine tune our research processes and future collaborations it allows us (communities and researchers) to fine tune our research processes and future collaborations

5 ACYRN has three aims Produce scientifically sound research Build community capacity to do research Build community capacity to do research Build community capacity to use the Build community capacity to use the research results research results

ACYRN focuses on youth resiliency to suicide youth resiliency to suicide primary or “upstream” interventions primary or “upstream” interventions that prevent youth from ever reaching the point of attempting suicide that prevent youth from ever reaching the point of attempting suicide

The ACYRN questionnaire Was self administered in group settings Was self administered in group settings Contained 102 questions Contained 102 questions Four scales to determine Four scales to determine – Levels of personal support – Self esteem – Distress levels – Sense of mastery or control

We asked youth about Substance abuse (alcohol and drugs) Substance abuse (alcohol and drugs) Exposure to violence (victim /perpetrator) Exposure to violence (victim /perpetrator) Relationship with parents (monitoring, support, feeling cared for) Relationship with parents (monitoring, support, feeling cared for) Self esteem, sense of mastery, distress levels Self esteem, sense of mastery, distress levels Cultural and community ties Cultural and community ties Feeling safe in and outside their community Feeling safe in and outside their community Suicide related behaviors Suicide related behaviors Substance abuse (alcohol and drugs) Substance abuse (alcohol and drugs) Exposure to violence (victim /perpetrator) Exposure to violence (victim /perpetrator) Relationship with parents (monitoring, support, feeling cared for) Relationship with parents (monitoring, support, feeling cared for) Self esteem, sense of mastery, distress levels Self esteem, sense of mastery, distress levels Cultural and community ties Cultural and community ties Feeling safe in and outside their community Feeling safe in and outside their community Suicide related behaviors Suicide related behaviors

How we examined youth resilience to suicide 1.We identified the youth at risk of suicide and youth resilient to suicide. 2.We identified characteristics that made these two groups different 3.We looked at interventions that would make the at risk youth more like the resilient youth (strengthen the resiliency factors that protect against suicide among the at risk) (strengthen the resiliency factors that protect against suicide among the at risk)

ACYRN focuses on actionable factors 1.Things that are related to suicide risk 2.Things that can be changed, improved or decreased decreased 3. Things that are doable at a community level level

Feeling parents care as an actionable factor -Protects against suicide (AF 1) -Can be increased among youth by working with parents (AF 2) -Can be changed with community resources? (Start by looking at how the community currently supports parents) (AF 3)

Community based researcher training Questionnaire design (ACYRN 2) Data collection - self administered questionnaires were completed in group settings Data entry -Double data entry was completed using EPI info version 6. Data sets were compared to eliminate keying errors. Preliminary analysis Basic frequencies, associations, OR’s and Confidence intervals. Basic frequencies, associations, OR’s and Confidence intervals.

Future training for CBRs More in depth discussions about ethics More in depth discussions about ethics Exposure to more in depth analysis methods Exposure to more in depth analysis methods Proposal writing/project design Proposal writing/project design

Lessons learned Funding gap and its impact on relationship building Funding gap and its impact on relationship building Research agenda versus real life. Research agenda versus real life. The role of the Community Based Researcher in programme development/knowledge to action The role of the Community Based Researcher in programme development/knowledge to action Protecting the confidentiality of participants Protecting the confidentiality of participants – Duty to report – Small data sets