Skip to main content Skip to navigation
Partnerships for Native Health Washington State University

Staying in the Circle of Life

trevor.koop

SITCOLLogo

Staying In The Circle of Life

In 2013, Partnerships for Native Health conducted a needs assessment with community healthcare workers from partner tribes throughout Washington State. Approximately 80% of those interviewed expressed a need for survivorship support and facilitator training for cancer survivors. To address this need, P4NH staff partnered with Dr. Rachel Ceballos from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Dr. Ceballos and her team had previously developed and evaluated a Spanish-language support group for Latino cancer survivors living in the lower Yakima Valley of Central Washington. Building upon Dr. Ceballos’s successful work, P4NH staff established a new survivorship curriculum called Staying in the Circle of Life (SITCOL).

Read More»

 

HONOR Project Summary

trevor.koop

HonorLogo

HONOR Project

Partnerships for Native Health is implementing a new alcohol treatment project. We are collaborating with three Native communities in the western United States on one of the largest interventions for alcohol abuse ever conducted with Native people. Our study population consists of 400 American Indian and Alaska Native adults. Our goal is to determine whether a culturally tailored version of a treatment called contingency management, in which people receive rewards for abstaining from alcohol, can reduce alcohol abuse and lead to other positive outcomes.

Read More»

 

Strong Heart Stroke Study

trevor.koop

Strong Heart Stroke Study – Pilot Expansion for Urban American Indian and Alaska Natives

This pilot study expands on the recently completed Strong Heart Stroke Study, which was the largest, most extensive examination of risk and protective factors for cerebrovascular disease ever conducted with American Indians. The research cohort assembled by the Strong Heart Stroke Study included men and women aged 45-74 years from 13 tribes in South Dakota, Oklahoma, and Arizona. Virtually all participants lived in rural areas. Our new pilot effort will further investigate cerebrovascular risk factors in Native people by conducting a feasibility study in an urban environment. The pilot cohort consists of 60 American Indians and Alaska Natives aged 65 and older who live in the Seattle metropolitan area.

We will use the same neurocognitive assessments as the Strong Heart Stroke Study to explore whether this urban cohort is characterized by distinctive risk or protective factors for cerebrovascular health. Our analyses will address a variety of factors. These might include the availability of acute care in urban settings (which can improve stroke survival) and the accessibility of resources related to lifestyle and health behaviors (which might mitigate or delay age-related cognitive decline). This research is urgently needed, since no studies to date have compared the cerebrovascular and cognitive risk profiles of urban versus rural Native populations.

New Project at P4NH

trevor.koop

Partnerships for Native Health is excited to kick off the new year by implementing a new alcohol treatment project. We are partnering with three communities across the West on one of the largest substance abuse intervention studies ever conducted with Native people. Our study sample consists of 400 American Indian and Alaska Native adults. Our goal is to determine whether a culturally tailored version of a treatment called motivational incentives (where people receive rewards for not using alcohol) can reduce alcohol abuse and lead to other important outcomes.

New Project at P4NH

alyssa.mayeda

Partnerships for Native Health is excited to kick off the new year by implementing a new alcohol treatment project. We are partnering with three communities across the West on one of the largest substance abuse intervention studies ever conducted with Native people. Our study sample consists of 400 American Indian and Alaska Native adults. Our goal is to determine whether a culturally tailored version of a treatment called motivational incentives (where people receive rewards for not using alcohol) can reduce alcohol abuse and lead to other important outcomes.

2013 NPCC Grantees

trevor.koop

We are pleased to announce the 2013 Native People for Cancer Control Community Grantees! Below are the grantees and their project titles:

Billings Clinic Cancer Center: “Fit and Fabulous – Getting Educated and Healthy”
Inland Northwest Health Services: “Reducing Cancer Risk in the Spokane Tribe of Indians”
Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe: “Spirit of the Drum Breast Cancer Survivor Support Group”
Native American Community Board: “Cancer Education Public Service Announcements in the Yankton Sioux Community”
Nimiipuu Health: “Women’s Wellness Day”
South Puget Inter-tribal Planning Agency: “Shining Light Walk to Colon Cancer Prevention”

A Targeted Approach to Increasing American Indian Kidney Donation

trevor.koop

Kidney donation small

A Targeted Approach to Increasing American Indian Kidney Donation 

End-stage kidney disease is a major public health concern for American Indian populations. It is 3.5 times more common among American Indians than among Whites, and it results overwhelmingly from an excess of type 2 diabetes. In treating end-stage kidney disease, transplantation is associated with better quality of life, lower health care costs, and longer life expectancy than is long-term dialysis. Even so, compared to Whites, American Indians experience significant delays in transplantation and remain on transplant waiting lists for longer periods of time. As rates of kidney disease continue to rise, the importance of raising awareness of organ donation becomes increasingly critical.

 Read More»

 

The Strong Heart Stroke Study

trevor.koop

SHSS Logo

The Strong Heart Stroke Study 

In 1988, NHLBI funded the Strong Heart Study: the largest epidemiologic study of American Indians ever undertaken. Its goal was to examine the prevalence of cardiovascular disease and its risk factors in American Indians. This research continues today with studies of the families of the original participants. A recent analysis estimated that the overall incidence of stroke in American Indians is more than double that of the general U.S. population. This finding indicates that cerebrovascular disease, a precursor of stroke, is a public health problem of staggering significance for American Indians. We propose to build on the work of the original Strong Heart Study, which has already collected substantial data relevant to cerebrovascular disease, by conducting the Strong Heart Stroke Study. Our work takes advantage of an important and timely opportunity to study cerebrovascular disease and stroke, with the goal of learning how to prevent and treat these conditions in American Indians. No previous research has specifically addressed these concerns.

Visit the SHSS Publications & Presentations Committee website to learn about our proposal review process, see our index of approved manuscripts, and access additional resources.

We invite you to view the presentation slides from our two-day SHSS Close-Out meeting held in October 2013 in Seattle. Members traveled from sites in Arizona, Oklahoma, and South Dakota to join in collaboration.

Read More

Native People for Cancer Control

trevor.koop

NPCC white logoNative People for Cancer Control

Native People for Cancer Control is a community network program funded by the National Cancer Institute. It includes several research projects designed to alleviate cancer health disparities among American Indians and Alaska Natives. Rates of cancer incidence in Native people have increased in recent years, while remaining steady or declining in other U.S. racial and ethnic groups. After a cancer diagnosis, five-year survival rates in Native people are the lowest of all races. We have worked with tribes and tribal organizations in eight states to address the following issues:

— Cancer education and health promotion activities and interventions, emphasizing traditional foods and ways of wellness.

— Community-level research on colorectal cancer screening, health communication, and reducing cancer risk factors among Native youth.

— Research training opportunities for American Indian and Alaska Native investigators and students.

To date, the work of Native People for Cancer Control has resulted in several community-based research products described here. We have also produced a half-dozen peer-reviewed publications, with more on the way. Our overall goal is to make a direct contribution to better cancer outcomes and quality of life for American Indian and Alaska Native populations.

Read More»

 

Native Women’s Wellness

trevor.koop

Native Women’s Wellness

American Indian and Alaska Native people experience striking disparities in mortality from cardiovascular disease compared to the general U.S. population. For women of childbearing age, early detection of chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease can often be missed, because the type of medical care they seek is typically focused on their reproductive health care needs. However, chronic disease risk factors, including smoking and obesity, are common in this age group and can be treated when evidence-based interventions are offered.

 Read More »