Tribal Epicenters: NWTEC Assists with involvement of AI/AN people in defining state health priorities [TEC News]

The Northwest Tribal Epidemiology Center (NWTEC) partnered with the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) to gather input on top health issues that are most important to American Indian/Alaska Native residents of Oregon. Feedback from residents helped informed a community-based steering committee at OHA pick the top five priorities in February 2019 for Oregon’s 2020-2024 State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP).

A total of 215 survey responses were collected in a two-month period, which provided an oversampling of AI/AN residents when combined with responses to a similar survey created by OHA.

Over 95% of respondents from NWTEC’s survey indicated that they were enrolled members of a federally recognized tribe, with 60% of these respondents being enrolled members of an Oregon tribe. Respondents also represented a degree of geographic variance, as over half of Oregon’s counties were represented. Although health priorities could shift slightly when analyzing results by demographic characteristics, the top priorities remained relatively stable across the board. These top priorities selected were:

1. Safe, affordable housing
2. Access to mental health care
3. Substance use
4. Adverse childhood/life experiences (ACE/ALEs), trauma, and toxic stress
5. Living wage
6. Obesity
7. Suicide

These priorities of AI/AN residents closely match the five priorities that were selected by OHA’s steering committee, which includes:

1. Behavioral health (substance use, suicide, and access to mental health care)
2. Economic drivers of health (food insecurity, housing, transportation, living wage)
3. Adversity, trauma, and toxic stress (ACE/ALEs)
4. Equitable access to care
5. Institutional bias across private and public entities

Since AI/AN people were underrepresented in the community input that OHA used to write the current health plan (2015-2019 SHIP), targeted outreach by NWTEC and community participation helped insure that Native voices were clearly heard during the planning process.

If you have any questions or would like more information about NWTEC or Oregon’s SHIP process, please contact Taylor Ellis at tellis@npaihb.org.

To read the full article, shared on TEC News, click HERE