Weekly News, Funding, Resources, and Upcoming Events in Indian Country

December 5, 2019

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry Recruitment for TAC Positions

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (CDC/ATSDR) is currently recruiting for Tribal Advisory Committee (TAC) positions in the Great Plains area, Tucson area, and Tribes At-Large (2) delegates. Read the eligibility and nomination criteria here and the Dear Tribal Leader Letter here.  

Bakken Cough: An Oil Field Workers Dilemma

New oil-and-gas pipeline protection measures could help people who suffer from pollution leaking into air, land, and water at the heart of the fracking industry’s Bakken Formation. “Bakken cough” is a devastating illness that can take up to eight weeks to recover, even with a steroid injection. On November 15, the “SAFER Pipelines Act of 2019” was introduced in U.S. Congress. Read more here.

Come Work for NIHB!

NIHB is seeking qualified candidates for the following position:

These positions are based in Washington, DC. Those who are interested in making a positive difference in the health of America’s Native Peoples’ lives are encouraged to apply. Read more here.

NIHB is Seeking Indigenous Knowledge on Blood Lead Level Testing

NIHB is working in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to increase the capacity of rural and non-urban Tribal communities for identifying and addressing elevated blood lead levels in Tribal children. To accomplish this, NIHB seeks to engage Tribal representatives and health professionals in 60-minute key informant interviews. The interviews will ask Tribal Health Directors or programmatic staff to describe their programs or operational plans in place for blood lead level testing and their current knowledge of lead exposure risk factors. Protecting children from exposure to lead is important to lifelong good health. If you are interested in this opportunity, please contact Sara Zdunek at [email protected] or 202-507-4077 .

NIHB Request for Applications: 2020 Cross-jurisdictional Systems Improvement Partnership Technical Assistance Opportunity

Applications due TOMORROW, December 6, 2019

Public health and systems issues often span jurisdictional boundaries. To improve public health systems and infrastructure, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has partnered with the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), the National Association of City and County Health Officials (NACCHO), and the National Indian Health Board (NIHB) to support a collaborative technical assistance opportunity, the Cross-jurisdictional Systems Improvement Partnership program. Participating health departments (Tribal, local, and state) will receive technical assistance in their effort to work together to improve public health across jurisdictions.

Read more here or apply for this opportunity



Additional information on NIHB's resources for performance improvement, systems improvement, and public health accreditation may be found by visiting www.nihb.org/tribalasi

Special Diabetes Program for Indians: Poster Session Call for Proposals

Deadline: Friday, December 20, 2019 by 11:59 pm ET

The National Indian Health Board (NIHB) invites Special Diabetes Program for Indians (SDPI) grantees to submit proposals to highlight the accomplishments of their programs at the Annual NIHB National Tribal Public Health Summit (TPHS) in Omaha, NE on March 17-19, 2020. The Annual SDPI Poster Session is a great way for success stories to be heard by a large audience of Tribal leaders and Tribal health professionals, as well as share program ideas with other grantees. The poster session will take place the evening of March 17, 2020 during TPHS Opening Reception.

SDPI presenters are also invited to volunteer to lead a fitness session during the Summit- please indicate in your proposal if you are interested.

For instructions, and to submit your proposal, click here.

CONVERGE Disaster Training Modules

Deadline: Thursday, February 27, 2020

CONVERGE Training Modules are available free of charge, covering a wide range of rapid response research topics such as disaster mental health and social vulnerability and disasters. The modules seek to accelerate the training of hazards and disaster researchers, with a special emphasis on students, emerging and situational researchers, and those interested in joining or leading interdisciplinary teams. Read more here.

Tribally-Specific Memory Change Resources

The Wyoming Center on Aging worked with the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes to develop Tribally-specific resources on abnormal memory change. View the resources here.

Transforming Tribal Communities: Indigenous Perspectives on Suicide Prevention

The Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) is excited to announce the release of a new video series, Transforming Tribal Communities: Indigenous Perspectives on Suicide Prevention . This series includes six- to eight-minute webinar clips with expert advice on addressing the root causes of suicide and mental health issues in American Indian and Alaska Native communities by drawing on community strengths. Presenters show how culturally relevant suicide prevention strategies endorsed by community members can lead to long-lasting change. Read more here.

Traumatic Brain Injury in Native Populations

Despite progress, injury remains the leading cause of preventable death for American Indian and Alaska Natives (AI/AN), aged 1 to 44. A traumatic brain injury (TBI) can cause short- or long-term changes in cognition, communication, and/or emotion. TBI-related hospitalizations and deaths are rising among AI/AN people, with falls, motor-vehicle crashes, and violence-related incidents as leading causes. Read more here.

5 ^th Annual COPE-Navajo Cancer Survivorship Conference

Tuesday-Wednesday, December 10-11, 2019 in Window Rock, AZ

The Community Outreach & Patient Empowerment (COPE) is hosting their 5 ^th Annual Navajo Cancer Survivorship Conference. Each year, the conference seeks to bring together a broad range of participants including patients, caregivers, family members, community members, clinicians, outreach workers, and other stakeholders to create an opportunity for shared learning to work collaboratively to improve cancer outcomes on Navajo Nation and surrounding Indigenous communities. Read more here and register for the conference here.

WEBINAR: School Crisis Mental Health Recovery: A Community and School Partnership

*This webinar has been postponed from its original date and time of December 6, 2019 at 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM ET. The new date and time has yet to be determined.*

The National Indian Health Board (NIHB) is hosting a webinar on the   School Crisis Mental Health Recovery: A Community and School Partnership. This webinar will demonstrate the importance of school and community partnership when preparing for mental health emergencies. The attendees will learn key factors; Memorandum of Agreement (MOU) and an evidence-based crisis intervention training curriculum to build capacity for mutual aid during immediate and long term postvention efforts for schools. Register here.

Registration Now Open! 2020 Annual National Tribal Public Health Summit

Tuesday-Thursday, March 17-19, 2019 in Omaha, NE

Save the date! Please join NIHB in Omaha, NE for the 11th Annual National Tribal Public Health Summit. Registration is now open—take advantage of early bird registration fees by registration before February 14, 2020. For more information on registration, location, lodging, exhibitors, and sponsorship, visit the  Summit website here.

Call for Proposals! Public health practitioners, researchers, and policy experts are invited to submit proposals for workshops and roundtable sessions. NIHB encourages presentations highlighting evidenced based, best, wise, or promising practices developed in and for Tribal communities.

This year, the Summit will feature 5 tracks:

NIHB hosted an informational webinar to learn more about writing a high quality conference proposal for TPHS. View the recording here.

For more information, or to submit a proposal, click here

Award Nominations! The 2020 NIHB Native Public Health Innovation Awards were created to recognize excellence, achievement, and innovations that are above and beyond the call of service. Each award will highlight the work and vision of a Tribe, individual, organization, or program that has worked to improve health status or outcomes, implement new programming, address long standing health disparities, and/or increase the visibility of Tribal public health concerns.

NIHB will present the National, Regional and Local awards at the 11th Annual National Tribal Public Health Summit.

Submit your Nomination Here