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人口怀孕的社会、文化、环境和生理动态的研究。该项目是一项为期三年的合作研究，重点是格陵兰人感知、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，格陵兰人的后代以及格陵兰的文化和习俗正处于危险之中。该项目将审查似乎对格陵兰妇女和男子的生殖影响最大的个人、社会、文化、环境和生理因素。这项研究将在格陵兰西北部的Kullorsuaq进行，研究的目标人群是15至49岁的格陵兰男女。该项目是一项跨学科的国际协作性社区参与性研究，参与者包括格陵兰大学、格陵兰当地卫生和社区伙伴、印第安纳州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、精神以及对性、怀孕和收养的信仰如何影响库洛苏瓦克的生殖决策; 2）研究性关系中的人际动态如何影响库洛苏瓦克男女的生殖决策：3）研究影响Kullorsuaq怀孕结果的有关亲属关系、家庭义务和人格的基本文化结构; 4）研究自然和人造环境特征，如自己和家人与地方的联系，环境中发生的气候变化及其对狩猎的影响，以及该地区石油工业的增长，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。该项目将使用基于社区的前瞻性研究（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，该项目将有助于我们了解可能影响北极人口下降的因素的复杂性。 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至关重要。 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，光周期的跨学科研究有望为夜班和其他涉及改变典型白天工作时间表的工作的妇女所面临的乳腺癌高风险提供见解。（例如，航空公司飞行员和工作人员，以及其他行程繁忙的人），这可能导致低成本的干预措施，降低患癌症的风险从而节省医疗费用并提高经济生产率。

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.