Utilizing Drumming for American Indians/Alaska Natives with Substance Use Disorders: A Focus Group Study

Abstract

Background: Drumming has been utilized among American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) tribes for centuries to promote healing and self-expression. Drum-Assisted Recovery Therapy for Native Americans (DARTNA), currently under development, is a substance abuse treatment utilizing drumming as a core component. Objectives: Focus groups were conducted to assist in the development of the DARTNA protocol. Feedback obtained from these focus groups will inform a subsequent pretest of DARTNA and an empirical study analyzing its effectiveness. Methods: Three focus groups were conducted among AIs/ANs with substance use disorders (n = 6), substance abuse treatment providers (n = 8), and a community advisory board (n = 4) to solicit feedback prior to a pretest of the DARTNA protocol. Results: Overall, participants indicated that DARTNA could be beneficial for AIs/ANs with substance use disorders. Four overarching conceptual themes emerged across the focus groups: (1) benefits of drumming, (2) importance of a culture-based focus, (3) addressing gender roles in drumming activities, and (4) providing a foundation of common AI/AN traditions. Conclusions: The DARTNA protocol is a potentially beneficial and culturally appropriate substance abuse treatment strategy for AIs/ANs. In order to optimize the potential benefits of a substance abuse treatment protocol utilizing drumming for AIs/ANs, adequate attention to tribal diversity and gender roles is needed. Scientific Significance: Due to the shortage of substance abuse treatments utilizing traditional healing activities for AIs/ANs, including drumming, results from this study provide an opportunity to develop an intervention that may meet the unique treatment needs of AIs/ANs.

• American Indians
• Alaska Natives
• Native Americans
• Substance Abuse
• Drumming

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors express their sincere appreciation to Don Coyhis and White Bison, Inc., for their support for the DARTNA treatment program and for allowing us to reference teachings of the Medicine Wheel and 12 Steps Program. Also, the authors thank Benjamin Hale and George Funmaker for their assistance and cultural guidance and expertise as it relates to the development of DARTNA and contributions to this article. The authors also thank Arthur Blume, Ph.D., for his contributions to this article.

Declaration of Interest

This study was supported by grants from NIH/NCCAM (1-R21-AT-005360-01A1), Principal Investigator: Daniel Dickerson, D.O, M.P.H., and NIH/National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) grant 5R03DA025291-02.