BRAVE Study
Based at the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board, We R Native is making a monumental push to enroll 1,500 AI/AN teens and young adults nationwide (15-24 years old) to participate in a study that will evaluate the impact of its text messaging service. We would love your help recruiting young adults!
Youth who enroll in the study will be randomized to receive either:
- 8 weeks of BRAVE text messages, designed to improve mental health, help-seeking skills, and promote cultural pride and resilience, or
- 8 weeks of STEM text messages, designed to elevate and re-affirm Native voices in science, technology, engineering, math and medicine.
Afterwards, the two groups will switch and participants will receive the other set of messages.
Eligibility. Youth must be:
- American Indian or Alaska Native
- 15-24 years old
- Live in the United States
- Able to receive text messages on their phone
Â
We have two easy options for students to enroll:
- Eligible youth can join by texting: BRAVE to 97779
- Tribal Schools and Colleges can enroll a larger group of students by showing this 15 minute video: https://youtu.be/mOXIi_FOB18. At the end of the video students will be instructed to text BEGIN to 97779, which will direct them to the pre-survey. Students will complete the pre-survey on their own phones – approximately 10 minutes. Altogether, the session take 30-40 minutes.
Please encourage students in your community to join the study by November 30th.
What to Expect. Eligible youth will receive 3-6 text messages per week, in the evenings. Participants will receive $40.00 for completing 4 surveys over 9 months.
Recruitment: We have print materials and swag prizes that we can fast-track to you, if you have events in Oct and early November where young adults will be present. If so, please send Stephanie (scraig@npaihb.org) your mailing address and the number of youth you plan to recruit.
Questions? Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â If you have questions, please contact Stephanie Craig Rushing (email:Â scraig@npaihb.org)
Principal Investigator, Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board
To protect participants, our study protocol has been reviewed by the Portland Area (PA) Indian Health Services’ (IHS) Institutional Review Board (IRB) [1384639], a tribal committee responsible for protecting the rights and welfare of research participants and NW tribal members. If you have any concerns about your rights as a participant, please contact Thomas Weiser, MD, MPH, at 1-877-664-0604. Dr. Weiser is Co-chair of the PA IHS IRB, that reviewed this project.
