Here you will see a selection of some of the slides shared during the Course to help shape meaning for those unable to attend in real time.
This slide describes Dr. Lorri Santamaría's current stance with regard to the work she is doing with the MICOP team Healing the Soul made possible with state (MHSA) and county (VCBH) partnership and financial backing.
Here Dr. Cristina Santamaría Graff presents her conceptualization and understanding of what this process might look like framed by literature on the topic.
Dr. Lorri Santamaría then shares the IMME as a model for ways in which participants can begin to identify community sourced espistemologies as more authentic ways of framing research in indigenous and 'othered' communities.
Team Healing the Soul shares the details behind their work beginning with the intentional outreach efforts that take place where the indigenous communities tend to be, naturally: gardens, laundromats, schools, churches, etc. Outreach was followed by a training schedule where in the research team learned qualitative and quantitative methods from research design to data collection to data analysis and reporting. Only one of the women had had experience in higher education, yeah all of the women excelled at learning research methods and adapting the research methods appropriately to their language, culture, and context in ways that Dr. Santamaría as an outsider never could.
The first data collection that took place to determine the indigenous and traditional healing practices to remedy stress, anxiety, and depression might be considered focus group interviews. The casual comfortable conversations that took place over traditional foods and drinks- started out with 2 participants and quickly grew to more than 12 participants, as women in the community, particularly elders were keen to share the more traditional ways of taking care of their families and communities to ward off symptoms associated with stress, anxiety, and depression. These conversations took place in up to five different languages simultaneously. Capturing each of the voices, stories, and remedies shared was a challenge. For example, as an outsider, Dr. Lorri had to leave the premises in order for the indigenous women to begin to share openly. This was a form of decolonizing research.
Data analysis was tricky because of the multiple language challenge posed by the focus group interview data collection. All of the interactions were first written down in the indigenous language that was spoken. The data was then translated into Spanish. From there a process of somatic data analysis and coding ensued. As a Spanish speaker, Dr. Lorri was able to guide the final identification of themes that emerged during the conversations. Finally, the data was translated into English for reporting purposes required by our state and county partners.
There were definite ways in which the research morphed into a decolonized reality. This happened as soon as the team received the training. I was told several times during the training process that in order for the community to share the information desired, the team was going to have to go into homes, speak to people in their languages, and complete any surveys or questionnaires themselves in a verbal exchange with the community members. The ways that the research actually took place operated in spaces outside of the clinical and objective ways I was taught that research needed to happen. Dr. Lorri realized early on that she was experiencing deep moments of 'unlearning,' similar to what she had experienced previously in New Zealand.
The data collection process became a beautiful dance of serving the community members. The more Dr. Lorri removed herself out of the process, the more authentic and decolonized the process became.
The data was overwhelmingly positive following the implementation of the healing processes which were learned from the Curanderas or healers, elders from the community who taught the team with the community had identified as ways in which to reduce symptoms associated with stress, anxiety, and depression. The slide that follows is an example of the ways in which the symptoms decreased after one week of treatment. The example below is for stress however the results for anxiety and depression are similar.
As with all research, the dissemination process has begun. Our sharing of this work benefits our community first, our partners second, and the greater good third.
Following our example, Dr. Jenny Lee – Morgan [she/ her/ hers] shares an example of decolonized research from New Zealand. If you wish to learn more about this, enjoy a visit through this link. Are you sure you the presentation was spectacular! Research work out of New Zealand that is been engaged by the indigenous people there is something that we can all aspire to here in the United States.
