Public Health Resources and Links

Public Health and Indian Country Information

Public Health 101

Public health is the science of protecting and improving the health of communities through education, promotion of healthy lifestyles, and research for disease and injury prevention. While health care systems (like the Indian Health Service hospitals and clinics) serve the individual patient, public health serves OUR Community. NIHB hosted a webinar, Public Health 101 – Foundations of Public Health and Indian Country, which is designed to give a foundational overview of public health, including how it is distinct from health care, and its importance across Indian Country. This includes going over the 10 Essential Public Health Services and the importance of public health prevention as it relates to health care service delivery. This Public Health 101 webinar kicked off the activities for Tribal Public Health Week 2018 and was originally hosted April 2, 2018 from 4-5pm ET.

Read Description | Watch Recording | View Slides

Tribal Public Health Successes Across Indian Country

Indian Country faces significant public health disparities, including diabetes, substance abuse, suicide, unintentional injury, and cancer. However, Tribal communities also have many valuable assets to address these critical issues, including rich traditions of health and wellness, community health as a priority in Tribal leadership, a deep understanding of the importance of holistic health, and the ability to exercise public health authority and make policies as sovereign nations. Many Tribes have success stories highlighting their work on these topics and some Tribes have led the way to break ground on these issues nationally. Learn more about these successes by viewing the recording of our webinar, Tribal Public Health: Success Stories Across Indian Country. This webinar was originally hosted as part of Tribal Public Health Week 2018 on April 4, 2018 from 4-5pm ET and NIHB welcomed special guests from the Southcentral Foundation and the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative.

Watch Recording

Public Health Advocacy 101

How can Congress support Tribal public health? By creating a system where there can be a substantial, sustained, and scaled investment in public health for Indian Country with existing funding streams set aside for Tribes. Learn more about this important topic, advocacy, and listen for a call to action in this recording of an NIHB webinar presented by Congressional Relations staff, Caitrin Shuy. This webinar was initially held Friday, April 6, 2018 from 2-3 pm ET during Tribal Public Health Week 2018.

Watch Recording | View Slides

Public Health Links

PublicHealth.org -
PublicHealth.org is dedicated to connecting patients, students and professionals to the latest and most useful healthcare information and resources available. The site has resources on addiction, communication, emergency management, heart disease, cancer, infectious diseases, aging, environmental health, and many other topics. http://www.publichealth.org

CDC- Office of State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial Support
Did you know?

The Office of Minority Health
Healthy Minorities, Healthier America

Just Move It
Just Move It is a national campaign to promote physical activity for American Indians and Alaska Natives. Use the Just Move It website to learn how to start an activity in your own community, share information about ongoing programs, contribute stories and enter information in Just Move It's calendar.

www.justmoveit.org

Resources

About the Managed Care Report:

This project is supported by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $800,000 with 100 percent funded by CMS/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CMS/HHS, or the U.S. Government.

On Wednesday, May 19, 2021, National Indian Health Board, in conjunction with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services held a Medicaid Managed Care Roundtable to better understand protections for Indian Health Care Providers operating with Medicaid managed care plans and to collaborate on strategies and solutions to benefit all parties. The Roundtable brought together panelists from state Medicaid agencies and Tribes from Washington, Oklahoma, Texas, California, North Carolina, and Oregon. This report is a summary of that event.

The Influenza and Vaccination Social Marketing Materials:

The National Indian Health Board has been serving on a multi-agency working group that was led by the Great Plains Tribal Chairmen’s Health Board to connect with community stakeholders and develop some social marketing materials targeting different sectors of Tribal communities (adults, youth, parents, service providers, etc.) to promote talking to service providers about acquiring a flu shot or any adult vaccine. The hope that these materials will help to break the barriers down between the community and provides and create a space for dialogue in which community members can make an informed decision if they would like to get a vaccine or not. These materials include posters, videos, and radio announcements. While some of the materials have been designed to be specific to the Northern Plains, the other materials are designed to be more general, and applicable to many different AI/AN communities. While they can be found in different locations, the majority of them have been posted here. Please use these materials in your communities, and let’s support community health through vaccinations.

IHS Online Search, Consultation and Reporting (OSCAR) System

The Indian Health Service is creating an inventory of Best (ie. Evidence-Based) Practice, Promising Practice, Local Effort (BP/PP/LE), Resources, and Policies occurring among American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities, schools, work sites, health centers/clinics, and hospitals.

The purpose of the inventory is to

Assist AI/AN communities in getting information and health services they need.
Form an IHS database of programs that can be easily accessed on the IHS website.
Be a resource of external and internal collaboration and communication.
Highlight the great work that occurs in the field.

The National Indian Health Board is pleased to provide a link for you to become acquainted and familiar with the OSCAR system.

Click here to visit the IHS Online Search, Consultation, and Reporting System.

Articles

Healthy People 2020

Healthy People provides science-based, 10-year national objectives for improving the health of all Americans. For 3 decades, Healthy People has established benchmarks and monitored progress over time in order to:

Encourage collaborations across communities and sectors.
Empower individuals toward making informed health decisions.
Measure the impact of prevention activities.

Introducing Healthy People 2020

HealthyPeople.gov continues in this tradition with the launch on December 2, 2010 of its ambitious, yet achievable, 10-year agenda for improving the Nation’s health. Healthy People 2020 is the result of a multiyear process that reflects input from a diverse group of individuals and organizations.

Vision

A society in which all people live long, healthy lives.

Mission

Healthy People 2020 strives to:

Identify nationwide health improvement priorities.
Increase public awareness and understanding of the determinants of health, disease, and disability and the opportunities for progress.
Provide measurable objectives and goals that are applicable at the national, State, and local levels.
Engage multiple sectors to take actions to strengthen policies and improve practices that are driven by the best available evidence and knowledge.
Identify critical research, evaluation, and data collection needs.

In our work to increase Tribal public health capacity and awareness in Indian Country, we work with a diverse group of partners and we look forward to the continued collaboration with the:

NIHB Contacts:

Public Health Policy and Programs

National Indian Health Board
50 F St NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: 202-507-4070