PIRAMD Project

Culturally-Informed Prevention and Intervention for American Indian Youth At-risk for Mood Disorders

Site: 1630 W. Wilson Ave, Chicago, Il, 60640

American Indian Center of Chicago Circle of Care: Leading, Engaging, Empowering, and Providing for Children and Families (LEEP)
This project, funded by a Circles of Care grant from SAMHSA, involves a collaborative effort between Dr. West and the American Indian Center of Chicago to develop infrastructure for a collaborative, community-driven, and culturally-competent mental health system of care for Chicago’s American Indian youth at risk for, or suffering from, mental illness. The ultimate goal of this work is to reduce rates of depression, suicide, substance abuse, and trauma in urban American Indian youth through effective service delivery. This goal will be achieved through use of a community participatory research framework: engaging community members in the assessment of needs and the setting of an agenda; creating partnerships with key stakeholders in strategic planning; and the development of a service delivery model to drive implementation.

Urban American Indian Youth in Chicago: The Use of Culturally-informed Methods to Determine Community Needs and Inform Intervention Development
This project, funded by a Great Cities Institute Seed Grant to Dr. West, involves the use of a culturally-informed qualitative focus group methodology to obtain information about the positive development and mental health needs of Chicago’s American Indian youth. This information will be used to inform the development/adaptation of prevention and intervention efforts focused on mood and related disorders in this at-risk population of youth. This project is a partnership with the American Indian Center of Chicago.