Abstract of Distinction: Recruitment & Retention in Substance Use Prevention Research: Lessons Learned in Diverse Indigenous Communities

This TED-Like Talk will bring together a multidisciplinary group of scholars working with American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) communities to highlight barriers and share strategies for success in the effective recruitment and retention of AIAN participants in prevention-related science. Maximizing recruitment and retention rates is a common and challenging goal in all prevention science, yet little attention has been paid to these issues in AIAN communities where some of the most pronounced health inequities exist. The authors will provide commentary on lessons learned in rural AI reservations, remote AN villages and in urban centers where the majority of AIAN people now reside.

The diverse contexts of Indigenous settings fuel innovative solutions to research implementation problems and AIAN partnership-driven research is at the forefront of addressing methodological complexities in prevention science. Central to such innovation is authentic, sustained partnerships with community members who offer expert guidance on cultural and contextual norms and methodological logistics. Woven throughout each of the talks is the sustaining engagement and inspiration the speakers have found from the leadership of AIAN people on collaborative projects. Bidirectional co-learning, consistent with the principles of Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR), enlivens and strengthens robust science when the insights of Indigenous community members and researchers-in-training are engaged in every phase of the research process, including problem formulation, data collection and analysis, innovative reporting of research findings, and creative feedback loops to ensure that communities reap the benefits of the information they have shared.