Our work began in the 1990s and keeps gaining momentum. Through the research projects currently underway, we continue to place underserved communities front and center. Our work is not just community-based and community-placed – it is guided by community needs and governed by community values. Our ongoing studies address health conditions that are widely prevalent in Native populations, including cardiovascular disease, stroke, and diabetes. We look forward to many more years of serving our current collaborators as we build new partnerships with new communities that share our commitment to high-quality health care and health.
We conduct community-centered research, training, and education to improve the health and quality of life of American Indian and Alaska Native people.
Partnerships for Native Health is firmly committed to making a positive impact on the communities we serve. We include tribal clinic staff and community members in most of our research partnerships, and we regularly collaborate with community members to develop novel culturally tailored educational materials. We also devote substantial resources to community outreach and capacity-building. Even before research begins, we strive to involve Native communities in the objectives and design of our studies, in keeping with the principles of community-based participatory research:
- Recognize the community as the unit of study
- Build on community strengths and resources
- Include community members and facilitate collaborative partnerships in all phases of the research process
- Integrate knowledge and action for the mutual benefit of all partners
- Promote co-learning and empowerment to address social inequalities
- Follow an iterative process
- Address health from an ecological perspective
- Disseminate findings and knowledge gained to all partners
We are dedicated to ensuring that our research partnerships result in positive benefits for communities according to their own self-defined goals and metrics.
Gathering at the Falls Spokane, Washington
Alzheimer’s Disease in Native Communities
Partnerships for Native Health is working to understand and address Alzheimer’s disease in Native communities. This video was produced by the University of Washington Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and Partnerships for Native Health to raise awareness.