Mention homeless people and words like optimistic, hopeful and happy are typically not what spring to mind.
More likely, said , an assistant professor in the 天美影视传媒鈥檚 School of Social Work, the stereotypes are negative聽鈥� 鈥渢hat they鈥檙e chronic alcoholics, depressed, they steal, they鈥檙e thieves. They don鈥檛 have hope. They鈥檝e just given up.鈥�
But Lewis sought to find something different when he embarked on a recent research project exploring optimism among homeless Alaska Native elders in Seattle. Statistics on that population are grim; urban Alaska Natives face disproportionately of physical and mental health problems, unemployment and poverty.
And while Alaska Natives and American Indians comprise just 1 percent of King County鈥檚 population, they make up 4 percent of homeless people in the region, according to a by the United Way of King County.
A trained gerontologist who grew up in Naknek, in Alaska鈥檚 Bristol Bay, Lewis studies characteristics that enable Alaska Natives to age well. He also wanted to focus on positive aspects in the lives of homeless people, instead of their myriad and well-documented challenges.
鈥淓veryone has positive things about their lives that should be highlighted,鈥� he said.
With that in mind, Lewis interviewed 14 homeless Alaska Native elders served by Chief Seattle Club, a nonprofit organization in the city鈥檚 Pioneer Square area that provides meals, housing assistance and other services to homeless and low-income native people. He asked people in the group, whose ages ranged from 45 to 70, what they did to be happy, whether they thought happiness impacted health and how they coped with sadness.
Participants were given a test to gauge optimism versus pessimism. Eleven respondents indicated strong levels of optimism, with only two scoring high in pessimism. Lewis was surprised by the cheeriness and resiliency shown in the responses.
鈥淩egardless of not having a place to sleep that night and not knowing where their next meal would come from, they believed tomorrow would always be better聽鈥� that someone would want to have their skills, their family might want them back, they might get a job,鈥� he said.
Asked what they did daily to feel happy, almost all participants mentioned spirituality, volunteering and humor as key components. They cited going to movies, reading, exercising and being around friends as remedies for the blues.
Lewis said his survey showed a strong inclination among participants to help other people聽鈥� for example, by bringing someone lunch or inviting others on social outings.
鈥淚t was really eye-opening, and it made me happy that they are good role models for other people,鈥� said Lewis, who also works with the UW鈥檚 .
Colleen Echohawk, executive director of Chief Seattle Club, said the respondents鈥� sanguine outlook might partially result from surviving trauma and gaining perspective over time. Some of the club鈥檚 clients, she said, were removed from their families and placed in the notorious residential schools established in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to assimilate American Indians into mainstream society.
鈥淚 know from their stories that they had awful things happen to them, and at different points in their lives perhaps they didn鈥檛 feel quite so optimistic,鈥� she said. 鈥淢any of our members have gone through a lot, and they鈥檙e just grateful to be alive.鈥�
Echohawk has frequently been struck by the level of optimism she encounters among native people, who she said often rely on faith and humor to deal with pain.
鈥淚 think that鈥檚 been one of the strengths of the native community since time immemorial,鈥� she said. 鈥淒espite tremendous adversity and hardship, having a positive and optimistic attitude has been what I鈥檝e experienced with a lot of my own relatives and a lot of the folks I work with.”
Lewis鈥� project was part of Stanford University鈥檚 Internet-based Successful Aging , which provides fellowships aimed at promoting successful aging and end-of-life care. He hopes to publish his findings in a peer-reviewed journal and plans to work with Chief Seattle Club to develop a broader, more in-depth study of homeless Alaska Native people. It鈥檚 a group that offers much to learn from, he said.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 highlight the skills and talents that these people have,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here are a lot of lessons and stories in their experiences that we could apply to everybody.鈥�