Talking Circle for Native American Youth

Native American youth have higher rates of depression and lifetime major depressive episodes, and, by age 11, are more likely to have initiated alcohol and substance use than any other racial/ethnic group. The COVID19 pandemic only compounded this suffering--anxiety, stress, depression, substance use, and suicide related mental health disorders skyrocketed in many Native American communities, especially among youth. Though many are desperate for help, treatment options are scarce to non-existent. To meet this urgent need, our overarching objective is to leverage the empirically proven, highly effective, school based, Talking Circle intervention to promote the mental, emotional, and behavioral (MEB) health of geographically diverse (rural, urban) Native American youth. This study, "Talking Circle for Native American Youth Living Well (A Yo Li)" uses a Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) approach to evaluate Talking Circle effectiveness, partnering with the United Keetoowah Band (UKB) of Cherokee Indians Tribe in Oklahoma, with members living in two geographically diverse areas, Adair County (rural), and Tulsa City (urban). "A Yo Li" in the UKB tribal language means "youth".