Culturally-Appropriate Treatment for Native Americans

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): There are ongoing debates but very few empirical data regarding the development of culturally appropriate treatment methods for alcohol use disorders among Native Americans. The usual research-practice gap is further widened by the fact that many Indian people receive substance abuse treatment through separate programs specifically for Native American clientele but not usually empirically based. The University of New Mexico requests early career development and training support for Dr. Kamilla Venner, whose primary research interests are in the advancement of treatment methods for Native American peoples. Her training plan focuses on the development of independent investigator skills in three areas: (1) research design, statistics and grant-writing (2) research management skills and (3) training therapists to provide manual-guided therapies for use in future clinical trials. Each of these areas is incorporated into an integrated sequence of coursework, mentored research experience, training with expert colleagues and scientific writing. Her research plan builds upon her predoctoral research studying processes of recovery from alcohol dependence among Native Americans. One hundred Native Americans will be recruited to provide quantitative and qualitative data designed to describe the severity of alcohol problems, create a chronology of events used to resolve alcohol dependence, and examine factors contributing to change and maintenance. This research will yield the first empirical study examining the natural history of recovery events among Native Americans, and will contribute new cross-cultural knowledge regarding successful methods for resolving alcohol dependence. The primary goal of the proposed research is to advance knowledge about how current evidence-based treatment methods could be modified or supplemented to be more culturally appropriate for treating Native American patients and in training Native American practitioners. Dr. Venner's career plan includes the development of R03 and R01 proposals to develop and test such treatment methods within Indian-specific treatment services, thus forming a strong foundation for a research scientist career.