Collaborative Research: Population Dynamics in Greenland - A Multi-Component, Mixed-Methods Study of Demographic Change in the Arctic

该奖项支持对北极土著居民怀孕的社会、文化、环境和生理动态的研究。该项目是一个为期3年的合作研究，重点关注格陵兰人感知、理解和体验怀孕的方式。格陵兰人认为，由于包括低出生率在内的各种人口因素，未来几代格陵兰人以及格陵兰文化和习俗正处于危险之中。这个项目将审查个人、社会、文化、环境和生理因素，这些因素似乎对格陵兰妇女和男子的生育有最大的影响。这项研究将在格陵兰西北部的Kullorsuaq进行，研究的目标人群是格陵兰的男女，年龄在15到49岁之间。该项目是一项跨学科国际协作社区参与性研究，涉及格陵兰大学、格陵兰当地卫生和社区伙伴、印第安纳大学和蒙大拿州立大学。该研究项目的主要活动是：1)研究个人层面的特征，包括年龄、性别、身心健康、灵性以及对性、怀孕和收养的信仰如何影响库洛瓦克人的生殖决策；2)研究两性关系中的人际动态如何影响Kullorsuaq地区男性和女性的生殖决策；3)研究影响Kullorsuaq地区怀孕结果的关于亲属关系、家庭义务和人格的基本文化结构；4)研究自然和建筑环境特征，如个人和家庭与地方的联系，环境中发生的气候变化及其对狩猎的影响，以及该地区日益增长的石油工业，如何影响Kullorsuaq的怀孕结果；5)检查激素避孕药是否可能与Kullorsuaq的一些客户在生物学上不匹配。该项目将采用基于社区的参与性研究（CBPR）框架实施。特别令人感兴趣的是将CBPR方法与人种学（文化、自然和生物）和公共卫生方法相结合。总的来说，这个项目将有助于我们了解可能影响北极人口减少的因素的复杂性。这项研究对于加强美国与北极战略盟友格陵兰岛之间的科学合作非常重要。此外，从这项研究中获得的信息将使我们对全球经济力量对偏远社区福祉的影响有重要的见解。此外，光周期的跨学科调查有望为夜班工作的妇女和其他涉及改变典型的白天工作时间表的工作（例如，航空公司飞行员和人员，以及其他繁重的旅行日程）面临的更高乳腺癌风险提供见解，这可能导致降低癌症风险的低成本干预措施，从而节省医疗费用并提高经济生产力。

This award supports research on the social, cultural, environmental and physiological dynamics of pregnancy in an indigenous Arctic population. The project is a 3-year collaborative study focusing on Greenlandic ways of perceiving, understanding and experiencing pregnancy. Greenlander's believe that future generations of Greenlanders and Greenlandic culture and practices are in jeopardy due to a variety of demographic factors including low birth rates. This project will examine the individual, social, cultural, environmental and physiological factors that appear to have the greatest influence on Greenlandic women's and men's reproduction. The research will be implemented in Kullorsuaq in northwestern Greenland and the target population for the study is Greenlandic women and men, ages 15 to 49 years. The project is an interdisciplinary international, collaborative community based participatory research (CBPR) study involving the University of Greenland, local health and community partners in Greenland, Indiana University and Montana State University. The main activities of the research project are: 1) Examine how the individual level characteristics including age, gender, physical and mental health, spirituality, and beliefs about sex, pregnancy, and adoption influence reproductive decision making in Kullorsuaq; 2) Examine how the interpersonal dynamics in sexual relationships influence reproductive decision-making among men and women in Kullorsuaq: 3) Examine the foundational cultural constructs regarding kinship, familial obligations and personhood that influence pregnancy outcomes in Kullorsuaq; 4) Examine how natural and built environmental characteristics such as one's own and one's family's connection to place, the climate changes occurring in the environment and its influence on hunting, as well as the increased oil industry in the area, influence pregnancy outcomes in Kullorsuaq; and 5) Examine whether hormonal contraceptives may be biologically ill-matched to some clients in Kullorsuaq. The project will be implemented using a Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) framework. Of particular interest is the combination of the CBPR approach with ethnographic (cultural, natural and biological) and public health methods. Overall the project will contribute to our understanding of the complexity of the factors that may be influencing a declining Arctic population. This research is important for strengthening the scientific collaborations between the United States and a strategic Arctic ally, Greenland. In addition, the information gained from this research will give us critical insights into the effects of global economic forces on the well-being of remote communities. In addition, the interdisciplinary investigation of photoperiod has promise for providing insights into the higher risk of breast cancer faced by women who work in night shift and other jobs that involve changes from a typical daytime work schedule (e.g, airline pilots and personnel, and others with heavy travel schedules), which could lead to low-cost interventions that would reduce the risk of cancer, thereby saving medical costs and increasing economic productivity.