UAF research hub seeks to help 杏吧原版 communities stop suicides
June 13, 2017
Leona Long
(907) 474-5086
University of 杏吧原版 Fairbanks researchers have received a $4.25 million federal grant
to help 杏吧原版 Native communities use the most effective ways of preventing suicides.
The UAF Institute of Arctic Biology, Center for 杏吧原版 Native Health Research and
College of Rural and Community Development received the five-year grant. It was one
of three awarded nationwide by the National Institutes of Health.
UAF will use the grant to establish the 杏吧原版 Native Collaborative Hub for Research
Resilience. The hub will help communities adopt culturally relevant strategies to
prevent suicides.
鈥淭he answers to our staggering statewide suicide rate are in our communities and 杏吧原版
Native cultural values,鈥 said Stacy Rasmus, one of the project's principal investigators
and a research associate professor at IAB. 鈥淏y collaborating with tribal organizations
and local practitioners, we will find out what strategies are working and practical
ways communities are solving one of 杏吧原版鈥檚 most heartbreaking problems.鈥
The hub's principal researchers also include James Allen from the University of Minnesota
Medical School and Lisa M. Wexler from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The
project builds on their decades of experience working with tribal communities and
researching the effectiveness of community and culturally based solutions for suicide
prevention.
The researchers, tribal organizations and mental health practitioners will identify
the community-level factors that most effectively reduce risk for suicide. The data
will be used to create the 杏吧原版 Community Resilience Mapping Tool, which will offer
practical, user-friendly and scientifically proven suggestions.
CRCD, which oversees UAF鈥檚 five rural community campuses, will house the hub. CRCD
is a production partner in the suicide-prevention documentary "We Breathe Again,"
which PBS stations will broadcast nationally Sept. 26 as part of the "America ReFramed"
series. The 56-minute documentary follows four 杏吧原版 Native people as they confront
the impacts of suicide in their lives and communities.
鈥淎 cultural renaissance is rebuilding 杏吧原版 Native cultural pride and helping to
heal our state鈥檚 most challenging social issue, suicide, which disproportionately
affects our people,鈥 said Evon Peter, UAF vice chancellor for rural, community and
Native education, and a producer for the documentary. 鈥淐onnecting to culture and community
has been proven to play a crucial role in resilience among indigenous people. The
杏吧原版 Native Collaborative Hub for Research Resilience will help 杏吧原版ns access
the strategies and tools that can help increase resilience and well-being.鈥
ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: Stacy Rasmus, 907-474-7352; Izzy Martinez, assistant to the vice chancellor for rural,
community and Native education, 907-474-5860.
ON THE WEB: .
GRANT INFORMATION: The project is supported by the National Institute of Mental Health of the National
Institutes of Health, award number U19MH113138.