Tribal Public Health Broadcast
Weekly News, Funding, Resources, and Upcoming Events in Indian Country

May 30, 2019
News
Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Hosts Roundtable Discussion on Tribal Public Health
 
On Wednesday May 22, 2019, the National Indian Health Board (NIHB) participated in a roundtable discussion “Advancing Tribal Public Health Partnerships”, before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. The session was led by Chairman John Hoeven (R-ND) along with Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) and Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV). NIHB Deputy Director and Director of Public Health Policy and Programs, Carolyn Angus-Hornbuckle, participated on behalf of NIHB. Panel participants included:
 
  • Dr. Ann Bullock, Director, Division of Diabetes Treatment and Prevention, Indian Health Service
  • Dr. David Espey, Captain, U.S. Public Health Service and Director of the Healthy Tribes Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  • Dr. David R. Wilson, Director, Tribal Health Research Office, National Institutes of Health
  • Lisa Pivec, Senior Director of Public Health, Cherokee Nation Health Services
  • Dr. Donald Warne, Director and Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of North Dakota
  • Santee Lewis, Executive Director, Navajo Nation Washington Office
  • Kris Rhodes, Chief Executive Officer, American Indian Cancer Foundation
  • Rob Bradley, Policy Associate, Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefence
 
Panelists shared input on a wide range of Tribal public health priorities including: the need for direct funding for Tribal public health programs, Tribal public health infrastructure and emergency preparedness development, mitigating the impacts of climate change, strengthening environmental health outcomes, and expanding the Tribal health workforce.
 
View NIHB’s 2019 Legislative Agenda here .
A 5-Year, 200 Million SDPI Renewal Bill Introduced in House of Representatives
 
Representative Tom O’Halleran (D-AZ) has introduced legislation ( H.R. 2680 ) to renew the Special Diabetes Program for Indians (SDPI) for another five years at $200 million per year. Since 1997, SDPI encourages Tribes and Tribal organizations to develop community level programs in preventing and treating diabetes through community engagement. With a funding increase of $50 million, H.R. 2680 aims to adjust for medical inflation and provide greater access to the program. To learn more about the National Indian Health Board’s efforts to support the highly successful SDPI, please contact Brett Weber at BWeber@nihb.org.
1 in 6 American Indian/Alaska Native Adults Reported Experiencing Subjective Cognitive Decline
 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released statistics from its 2015-2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) regarding subjective cognitive decline (SCD) in American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN). This survey reached AI/AN adults 45 years and older in 49 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. To address cognitive decline and other dementias, public health and healthcare professionals can use the Healthy Brain Initiative’s Road Map for Indian Country guidebook. Read more here.
Funding & Opportunities
NIHB Community Changemaker Grants for Native Youth-led Health Projects

Applications accepted until funding is gone! Apply ASAP.

AI/AN youth ages 14-24 years old are eligible to apply for NIHB's Community Changemaker Grants. These are small amounts of money ($250) that can help supercharge a YOUTH-led and YOUTH-planned health event. Read more here.
Resources
NIHB Awardee Swinomish Releases Open-Access Learning Modules to Help Tribes Assess Health and Adapt to Climate Change
 
Over the past several years, the National Indian Health Board (NIHB) has worked with Swinomish Indian Tribal Community (Swinomish) as part of the Climate Ready Tribes (CRT) project funded through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). For the project, Swinomish  indigenized  the  CDC Building Resilience Against Climate Effects (BRACE) health assessment framework to better reflect indigenous health definitions and priorities. Now, NIHB is delighted to announce that Swinomish has developed a series of online, freely accessible modules that describe why and how Swinomish modified BRACE ( module 1 ), and provide an example of how Swinomish used the indigenized BRACE framework in a climate change and health assessment project ( module 2 ). Swinomish hopes that other Tribes may tailor the process and methods f or use in their own communities. Read more here.
Office on Women’s Health Trauma-Informed Care Tool
 
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health provides a training tool for a broad range of professionals to learn about the prevalence and impact of trauma and how to integrate the principles of trauma-informed care into practice.  Read more here.
Events
NIHB Webinar: Enhancing Relationships between Tribal and State Governments
Thursday, May 30, 2019 from 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM ET

Cross-jurisdictional collaboration between Tribes and states is critical, especially during an environmental health crisis. Having positive existing relationships and effective communication channels is vital to a successful response. During this webinar, participants will hear from both Tribal and state health department representatives that are taking a proactive approach to collaboration by convening in-person Tribal environmental health summits. This is a Climate and Health Learning Community Webinar, and all are welcome. Read more here.
Ally Acquisition Climate & Health Webinar
Thursday, June 20, 2019 at 1:00 pm ET
 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will be hosting a climate and health communications webinar series called Amplify: Increase the Impact of Your Climate and Health Communications. This series is brought to you by the CDC Climate and Health Program. These webinars are designed for state and local health departments, but may be useful for Tribes as well. The webinars can help viewers more effectively communicate the health impacts of climate change and in their communities. The next webinar in this series, Ally Acquisition, will take place on June 20. Read more here.