Using Social Network Analysis to Visualize Networks in American Indian Health Research.

Jessica D Hanson,Susan E Puumala,Lindsay Erickson,Denyelle Baete Kenyon,Abby Martin,Morgan E Nelson,Melissa Buffalo

doi:10.33596/coll.22

Jessica D Hanson, Susan E Puumala + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.33596/coll.22

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Abstract

The Collaborative Research Center for American Indian Health (CRCAIH) is a transdisciplinary, collaborative center focused on building American Indian tribal research infrastructure. Funded by the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities in 2012, it was created as a platform to join tribal communities and researchers in South Dakota, North Dakota, and Minnesota to develop research infrastructure and stimulate research in American Indian health. The CRCAIH infrastructure has created a large network of transdisciplinary research partnerships. To understand the initial development of the CRCAIH network and understand the broader impact it has had on American Indian and Alaska Native health research, CRCAIH undertook a network analysis based on publications by collaborators working with and within CRCAIH. The network analysis showed how far the CRCAIH network went in a short period of time to create a platform for networking to build collaborations and further stimulate research with American Indian communities.

Highlights

Adequate funding is a common barrier to health research, but that is especially true for some states in the Upper Midwest of the United States
The goal of the initial Center for American Indian Health (CRCAIH) grant was expanded to other networks of researchers and touched on topics beyond health disparities into other areas tribal communities deemed important, such as policy, issues with research regulation, and how to develop research in genomics
There were several key researchers that pushed out work with American Indians to other groups of collaborators, further connecting academics and community researchers from across the world with a common goal of delving into American Indian research

Summary

Introduction

Adequate funding is a common barrier to health research, but that is especially true for some states in the Upper Midwest of the United States. Health disparities are further exacerbated by poor socioeconomic factors including poverty and high unemployment in many American Indian communities (Macartney, Bishaw, & Fontenot, 2013; Ogunwole, Drewery, & Rios-Vargas, 2012; Sarche & Spicer, 2008; U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2016). These factors, along with availability of reliable healthcare, create barriers to health equity (Artiga, Arguello, & Duckett, 2013) and create many areas in which health disparities research is needed

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