Bigfoot has been helping the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board’s (NPAIHB) Tribal Epidemiology Center spread the word about how to stay safe from COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.
In his first appearance in March 2020, Bigfoot stressed the importance of protecting our Elders and staying home to stay safe. Since then, his guiding presence has brought important messages to the NW Tribes wrapped up in a bit of fun.
Last fall, Bigfoot started making personal appearances at all the NPAIHB Tribes to encourage mask wearing and to spread some joy despite the pandemic. Wearing his extra LARGE mask, he was enthusiastically received by all.
In early 2021, besides his Stay Safe messages, Bigfoot began encouraging people to get vaccinated culminating in his appearance on a “tattoo” after vaccination. These tattoos were also distributed to all the Tribes served by the NPAIHB for distribution at vaccination events.
In his most recent appearance, Bigfoot has been seen taking his children to be vaccinated, encouraging parents to take care of their children and communities!
Like our Tribes, Bigfoot is committed to protecting those who came before him and nurturing those who come after.
In September 2020, UIHI released a grant opportunity, Supporting the Sacred: Womxn of Resilience, for Native femme-identifying survivors of sexual violence who have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The individuals who applied shared their stories with us and allowed us to be a small part of their healing journey. For that, we are beyond grateful.
To show our appreciation and love for this community, we created care packages full of medicines, jewelry, and other self-care items purchased from Indigenous-owned and operated businesses including Sister Sky, Eighth Generation, Haípažaža pȟežúta, Red Lake Nation Foods, and NativeWorks Jewelry Store.
Each care package was a display of the respect and care we have for our relatives who have survived sexual violence and who chose to trust us with their story so we can better serve our community.
The Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc., Tribal Epidemiology Center (ITCA TEC) conducted the first Corona Virus 2019 (COVID-19) Tribal Public Health After Action Review Workshop with Tribal sub-awardees. This event was held in partnership with Blue Stone Strategy Group, LLC, which was made possible through funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The development of After Action Review, helps Tribes assess performance, document lessons learned, and identify areas for improvement in a non-judgmental way, during and after a public health emergency.
Former Chairman of the Yavapai-Apache Nation, and co-founder of Blue Stone Strategy Group, Jamie Fullmer, and his team guided the Tribal staff through developing a framework for a culturally-competent After Action Review Plan. Participants were provided with a hard copy of the designed toolkit, outlining the After Action Review Planning Process. Several exercises were facilitated during the workshop that provided opportunities for the Tribal staff to begin developing their respective After Action Review Plans, and share those plans with their colleagues. Each sub-awardee examined their Tribes’ response effort to COVID-19 pandemic, and identified specific areas for improvement, as well as implementation strategies.
The workshop concluded with participants reflecting on their experience during the workshop review process. As a result of the After Action Review Workshop, COVID-19 Response Tribal sub-awardees are now more prepared to manage the Tribes’ future emergencies, including those related to COVID-19.
“Often times we don’t think about an After Action Review, however, it may be the most important. The training was great and the toolkit was helpful and easy to understand and follow.”
For the month of October, you can take part in different learning and networking opportunities from the comfort and safety of your own home/office. We hope you can advance your knowledge to gain a better understanding of motor vehicle safety skills and prevention through interactive sessions with leading experts.
The Injury Prevention world may seem small, but we want everyone to gain new insight and learn from our colleagues!
Looking to connect with colleagues? We have designated networking opportunities and social activities into our interactive conference platform. Make lasting connections like never before!
Nearly two-thirds of the general population report experiencing at least one Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE), such as loss of a parent, abuse, or domestic violence. Members of marginalized populations, including low-income and ethnic minority youth, are at an even greater risk of experiencing ACEs. Higher rates of ACEs have been linked to an increase in poorer health outcomes during adulthood; including heart attack, cancer, depression and an increase in smoking, illicit drug use, and risky behaviors. Through the Building Public Health Infrastructure Initiative grant awarded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CTEC is conducting a two-year Tribal Adverse Childhood Experiences (TACEs) project with three California Tribal Health Programs (THPs).
The project goal is to increase awareness in ACEs and Trauma Informed Care (TIC) in California Tribal communities and clinics. To accomplish this goal, the TACEs project is comprised of three components:
Community surveys – CTEC has adapted and pilot-tested a culturally sensitive survey based on the CDC version of the original ACEs tool. Our Tribal ACEs survey includes questions on demographics, resilience, community, and culture.
Clinic staff surveys – CTEC will collaborate with the three IHPs to determine providers’ extent of trauma-informed beliefs utilizing the Attitudes Related to Trauma-Informed Care (ARTIC) Scale. These attitudes can have an enormous impact on patient’s experiences. ACEs and trauma shape health across the life span and the need for trauma-informed service systems is urgent.
Prevention/intervention strategy implementation – CTEC will analyze the results of the Tribal ACEs survey and the ARTIC Scale survey and work with the THPs to identify targeted community prevention activities, interventions and/or trainings they feel will resonate in their communities and clinics.
After project completion, CTEC will assist IHPs prepare individual and collective reports summarizing the results of the Tribal ACEs survey tool, implemented interventions/trainings, and the ARTIC Scale survey. As CTEC’s aim is to increase awareness on ACEs and TIC, more information on the collective findings will be disseminated September 2021.
