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Community, Health, and Family

Understanding the colonial roots of current cardiovascular health outcomes of Indigenous older adults in Minnesota Antonio Paniagua*, Antonio Paniagua Guzman,

It is widely reported that due to disparities rooted in multiple colonization practices and systemic and institutional racism, the prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and related chronic conditions (RCC) among Indigenous populations in the U.S. is significant and growing. Important efforts have been made to address this pattern through interventions and studies focused on understanding sociocultural, ecological, and behavioral factors contributing to these outcomes. Nevertheless, few studies have been guided by Indigenous perspectives and knowledge about the meaning of colonization and its impact; that is, deconstructing colonization and CVD with an Indigenous lens. Using a community-based participatory research framework, this study aims to develop an Indigenous conceptual framework of the relationship between colonization and CVD that can be used to better understand and treat CVD in Indigenous older adults. This project, conducted in collaboration with the Fond du Lac (FDL) Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Tribe in Minnesota, works in partnership with a community advisory group to guide the research. Twelve interviews and ten focus groups with older adults living with CVD and younger individuals at risk for CVD due to RCC are being conducted to elicit community perspectives. Early findings suggest that ‘colonization’ is not a commonly used concept to explain health disparities at the community level. By prioritizing Indigenous understandings of colonization and CVD, the resulting culturally grounded framework produced from this study will be instrumental in improving the effectiveness and impact of interventions aimed at Indigenous populations.