TEC News

TEC News

IPE TIG Week: Cool Tips from NPAIHB on Evaluation and Dissemination

TEC News, TECs in the Media
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AEA 365

We are the team at Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board (NPAIHB) and the Northwest Native American Research Center for Health / Public Health Research Academy. We (Stephanie Craig Rushing, Celena Ghost Dog, Amanda Gaston, Grazia Cunningham at NPAIHB, and Allyson Kelley at AKA PLLC) have been evaluating culturally relevant programs, interventions, curricula, and conferences for a long time.

Stephanie Craig Rushing, Celena Ghost Dog, Amanda Gaston, Grazia Cunningham at NPAIHB, and Allyson Kelley
November 16, 2023

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Sharing TEC Work: Seven Directions Our Nations, Our Journeys 2023 Indigenous Public Health Conference

Success Stories, TEC News
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Seven Directions, a Center for Indigenous Public Health based at the University of Washington in Seattle, hosted the Our Nations, Our Journeys 2023 Indigenous Public Health Conference from June 27-29, at the Mystic Lake Center in Prior Lake, Minnesota. Over 300 participants, including Indigenous public health leaders, activists, researchers, and collaborators, convened to explore the theme, “Healing from the Opioid Epidemic through Strengths-based Approaches and Data Sovereignty.” Participants learned about and discussed an array of topics, such as culturally grounded approaches to healing and recovery, opportunities to improve data for substance use prevention and response, and efforts to promote Indigenous data sovereignty. Among the attendees and presenters, there was a strong representation from many of the Tribal Epidemiology Centers.

 

Seven Directions is immensely grateful for all of the knowledge shared by participating TEC Directors and staff. See some of the conference highlights below!

 


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For more information about each of the 12 TECs, visit https://tribalepicenters.org/12-tecs/.

 

6.28.23 – Data Opportunities for Tribal Opioid Overdose Prevention & Control from Seven Directions indigenousphi.

Dr. Kevin English, Director of the Albuquerque Area Southwest Tribal Epidemiology Center, hosted a breakout session on June 28, presenting “Data Opportunities for Tribal Opioid Overdose Prevention & Control.” English shared information about currently available data sources that can be leveraged to characterize the burden of opioids among American Indian and Alaska Native populations, including opportunities for opioid-related data and surveillance enhancement and primary data collection.

Michael Mudgett, Substance Use Epidemiologist at the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board, hosted a breakout session on June 28, presenting “Improving AI/AN Overdose Data Through Data Linkages.” In this presentation, Mudgett described how NPAIHB has utilized data linkages to correct racial misclassification and address the improvement of drug overdose mortality data among American Indian and Alaska Native people in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho vital statistics databases, respectively.

Tim Collins, Senior Epidemiologist at the Alaska Native Epidemiology Center, led an experiential learning session on June 29, titled, “Opioids and the Brain: How Augmented Reality can inform treatment and build health literacy.” In this session, participants had the opportunity to wear a Hololens2 headset to experience interactive holograms that illustrate the potential effects of opioid use on the brain and how treatment can help. Collins also discussed the rationale for using augmented reality in patient education, special considerations for substance use disorders, and limitations of the technology.

 

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5 Questions For Abigail Echo-Hawk

TEC News, TECs in the Media
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Medium

Abigail Echo-Hawk, MA, is an enrolled citizen of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma and is currently the director of the Urban Indian Health Institute and executive vice president of the Seattle Indian Health Board. What’s Next Health spoke with Ms. Echo-Hawk about her recent work to decolonize data — where Indigenous peoples and nations have ownership over the collection, management, and dissemination of their own data — which is supported in part by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

WNH Editors
May 24, 2023

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TEC Success Story: Public Health Authority 101

Success Stories, TEC News
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In this video presentation to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service (CMS) Tribal Technical Advisory Group (TTAG) Data Subcommittee on May 23, 2023, Meghan O’Connell, MD, MPH (Chief Public Health Officer of the Great Plains Tribal Leaders’ Health Board) and Chris Alibrandi O’Connor, JD (Deputy Director, Mid-States Region Office for The Network for Public Health Law) share the legal basis for Tribal Epidemiology Center’s (TEC) access to protected health information for public health purposes.

With the reauthorization of the Indian Healthcare Improvement Act in 2010, TECs were designated as “public health authorities” which allows TECs the same access to protected health information/data for public health purposes as other public health authorities, like state health departments.

These activities were supported through a variety of funding opportunities including the coordination and collaboration activities made possible by the Indian Health Service and the CDC’s Tribal Epidemiology Centers Public Health Infrastructure program, National Center for Chronic Disease and Prevention and Health Promotion, Healthy Tribes Program.

 

TEC Public Health Authority 101

 


TEC logo
For more information about each of the 12 TECs, visit https://tribalepicenters.org/12-tecs/.

 

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