Culturally Relevant Evaluation in Public Health: Lessons From the California American Indian Tobacco Initiative Evaluation

Abstract

American Indian Communities nationwide and in California have reported higher commercial tobacco use than the general population, making them at high risk of tobacco-related health consequences. While public health initiatives have successfully reduced commercial tobacco prevelance in California and around the country, mainstream commercial tobacco prevention approaches have not had as much success within American Indian communities. To address this disparity, the California Department of Public Health, California Tobacco Prevention Program initiated a new approach in 2019 by directly funding 13 California Tribes and five American Indian Serving Community Organizations to address commercial tobacco prevention as part of the California Tribal Initiative to Reduce Tobacco-Related Disparities. The California American Indian Tobacco Initiative Evaluation (CAITIE) sought to assess the overall success of the initiative and to provide specific feedback to improve future waves of funding. This article reports on the evaluation’s incorporation of cultural protocols and best practices from Indigenous evaluation methodology into the research design, improving the cultural relevancy of the findings. These approaches included respect for Tribal sovereignty and Indigenous ways of knowing supported through the hiring of Native staff, an emphasis on participatory research practices using collective coding processes and member checks, and a commitment to a strengths-based approach and context-specific solutions through the dissemination processes. The CAITIE project’s success offers support for the importance of conducting culturally relevant evaluations that honor and reflect the diversity of Tribal partners.