Indigenous Community-Based Participatory Research Approach and Safe Return to In-Person Learning for Diné Youths and Families

The first case of Dikos Ntsaaígíí-19 (COVID-19) was identified in the Navajo Nation on March 17, 2020. Schools across the reservation had been ordered to close the day before, disrupting traditional schooling for thousands of families. The COVID-19 pandemic was particularly challenging for many Navajo communities because of longstanding social inequities caused by the legacy of colonization, historical trauma, and ongoing discrimination. However, the collective response, rooted in Navajo teachings and ways of knowing, helped to change the course of COVID-19 through the implementation of robust public health measures. All Navajo Nation schools remained closed through the 2020-2021 school year. At the beginning of the 2021 -2022 school year, our team of Indigenous and allied researchers launched a new study, Project SafeSchools (PSS), which aimed to facilitate a safe return to in-person learning through implementation support for COVID-19 screening and diagnostic testing. Embedded in PSS was a cohort study aimed at understanding the mental, physical, behavioral, and spiritual effects on families and children as they returned to in-person learning.2 The PSS study leveraged an Indigenous Community-Based Participatory Research (ICBPR) approach. Herein, we describe ICBPR, provide an example of how it was utilized in the PSS study, and provide practice-based guidance to support future research and policy with Indigenous communities.