Best Practices for Community-Engaged Research with Pacific Islander Communities in the US and USAPI: A Scoping Review

Abstract

This scoping review identifies the best practices of community-based participatory research with Pacific Islanders in the United States and United States Affiliated Pacific Islands. Eighty-four articles from January 2000 to December 2017 were included in the review. Best practices included the importance of engaging Pacific Islander community leaders as research staff, community coinvestigators, and community advisory board members. Best practices also focused on removing barriers to research by using participants' native languages, conducting research within the geographic community, and spending significant time to build trust. Novel best practices included honoring Pacific Islanders' cultural practices such as protocols for engagement, reciprocity, and social and spiritual inclusiveness and honoring Pacific Islanders' collectivist cultural structure. The goal of this scoping review is to aid community-academic partnerships working to improve the health of Pacific Islanders.

Perceptions, Beliefs, and Experiences of Asians and Micronesian Islanders on Family Health History Genetic Cancer Screening Community Outreach

“…Lee et al [ 3 ] found that among immigrant Asian subgroups, lower health literacy affects health outcomes. In previous research with Pacific Islanders including MI, researchers reported the need to clarify kinship as family extends to blood or not blood related [ 5 , 8 ]. In our study, participants did report that the family health history GCS postcard reflected multigenerational importance, yet it was missing the fullness of what is meant by family with the absence of male images on the postcard.…”

“…Rather, the aim is to maintain harmony within social family structures, often through reciprocal gestures of respect between a brother and a sister that are often misunderstood by some Chuukese Islanders and foreign visitors (pp. 149–150).” In a systematic review, McElfish et al [ 8 ] discussed about the importance of honoring the practices of Pacific Islander cultures, and this includes separating activities by sex due to the sensitivity of such topics. Furthermore, having a team member collecting the sensitive data information to be the same sex as the participant or patient would be culturally responsive.…”

“…While similar in many of the barriers to engage minoritized groups in cancer screening and GCS, the minimal research representation of Pacific Islanders, and specifically, MI subgroups is a gap in the literature to understand the unique needs and the profound health disparities among this population [8]. The history of trauma, exploitation, and exclusion of Marshallese, including the nuclear weapons testing detonated on their homelands and unethical research, without informed consent, have led to being forced from the homeland and had lasting negative health issues for the community, including cancer [8][9][10][11][12]. There are researchers who are unfamiliar or do not know about this MI community context.…”

Medical financial hardship reported by Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander cancer survivors compared with non‐Hispanic whites

“…However, in our current study, we did not find a statistically significant association between having any NSC and the likelihood of reporting MFH in either NHPI or NHW cancer survivors after adjusting for other covariates, although NHPIs reported a stronger association than NHWs. The collectivist cultural structure of NHPIs values social and spiritual inclusiveness . The lower NSC reported among NHPI cancer survivors may affect the psychological well being of cancer survivors independent of MFH, which warrants further investigation.…”

A mixed-methods longitudinal study of Marshallese infant feeding beliefs and experiences in the United States: a study protocol

“…All study information documents used for recruitment, consent, and retention were developed in collaboration with Marshallese stakeholders (CAN and Marshallese bilingual study staff) using a CBPR approach [ 47 ]. Thirty women will be recruited by the Marshallese bilingual study staff, who will recruit at local clinics, faith-based organizations, and community-based organizations.…”