TY  - JOUR
AU  - Sacca, Lea
AU  - Markham, Christine
AU  - Hernandez, Belinda
AU  - Shegog, Ross
AU  - Peskin, Melissa
AU  - Craig Rushing, Stephanie
AU  - Warren, Hannah
AU  - Tsosie, Monique
PY  - 2022
DA  - 2022/4/11
TI  - The Impact of COVID-19 on the Delivery of Educational Programs in Native American Communities: Qualitative Study
JO  - JMIR Form Res
SP  - e32325
VL  - 6
IS  - 4
KW  - online sexual health programs
KW  - COVID-19
KW  - COVID-19 pandemic
KW  - AI/AN youth
KW  - sexual health educators
KW  - culturally responsive adaptation
KW  - program implementation
KW  - sexual health
KW  - implementation
KW  - Native communities
KW  - American Indian youth
KW  - Alaskan youth
KW  - education
KW  - tribal communities
KW  - online
KW  - virtual
AB  - Background: Despite the availability of culturally responsive sexual health educational programs for American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth, barriers to their uptake and utilization persist in tribal communities. These challenges were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which required flexible program delivery using both in-person and virtual classrooms. Objective: This exploratory study provides a preliminary understanding of the extent to which pre-existing challenges impact the delivery of culturally responsive sexual health education programs in Native communities and to what extent they were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. It also highlights the challenges faced by adolescent health advocates when adapting culturally responsive health curricula to online platforms. Finally, this study discloses major socioeconomic, health, and mental challenges experienced by AI/AN youth during the pandemic. Methods: An exploratory, descriptive, qualitative design approach was adopted to carry out 5 individual and 1 collective in-depth key informant interviews. A total of 8 Native and non-Native sexual health educators served as key informants and shared their personal experiences with the delivery of sexual health education programs for youth during the COVID-19 pandemic. The interviews were conducted virtually from October to November 2020 using Zoom to reach participants dispersed across different regions of the United States. We followed the consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ) as a reference for the study methodology. We also used the Braun and Clarke framework (2006) to conduct a thematic analysis. Results: Experts’ opinions were structured according to 5 main themes: (1) competing community priorities during COVID-19; (2) moving to web-based programming: skills, training, support; (3) recruiting youth; and (4) challenges for implementation in a household environment; and (5) recommendations to overcome implementation challenges. These themes are complementary, connected, and should be considered holistically for the development, dissemination, and implementation of online sexual health programs for AI/AN youth, specifically during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results raised the following points for discussion: (1) Building partnerships with schools and community organizations facilitates program adaptation and implementation, (2) there is a need to adopt a holistic approach when addressing youth sexual health in AI/AN communities, (3) a systematic and culturally responsive adaptation approach ensures effective virtual program delivery, and (4) community and youth engagement is essential for the success of virtual sexual health programs. Conclusions: Findings can provide recommendations on actions to be taken by sexual health educators and guidelines to follow to ensure cultural sensitivity, effective adaptation, and successful implementation when setting out to advocate for online sexual health programs for AI/AN youth. 
SN  - 2561-326X
UR  - https://formative.jmir.org/2022/4/e32325
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/32325
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35348464
DO  - 10.2196/32325
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/32325
ER  -