National Aboriginal Youth Suicide Prevention Strategy: Multiple case study of community initiatives

This is a report of a collaborative research project involving members associated with NAYSPS-funded community projects.. Four sites were selected on the basis of the extent to which they might be expected to have individual and community-level impact and variation in geographical region. The sites were located in Alberta (Hobbema), Saskatchewan (Battlefords Tribal Council Indian Health Service), Québec (Uashat mak Mani-utenam) and Labrador (Nunatsiavut). The case studies were participatory; each project recruited the services of a local research mentor who worked in conjunction with members of the NAYSPS-funded program community to produce the research. Research questions varied across the four identified case sites according to the needs of the particular sites, although all studies were guided by the NAYSPS evaluation framework (Cousins & Chouinard, 2007).
The study designs were all quite similar with each study relying on multiple sources of information and evidence. Given that most sites had not been collecting evaluation or project monitoring information over time, the designs were limited to retrospective crosssectional explorations of processes and impacts. While the studies used fairly traditional approaches to gathering data (e.g., questionnaires, interviews, focus groups) they were well informed by cultural wisdom and local knowledge. A two-day central workshop was held in order to collaboratively plan and set expectations for the studies. Two over-arching objectives for the multiple case study were identified: 1. understanding the impact of NAYSPS-funded projects on community, youth, etc. 2. understanding project implementation strengths/weaknesses and possibilities for improvement These objectives were sufficiently broad as to encompass the specific research questions generated at the local case level.