TEC News | Tribal Epidemiology Centers

Tribal EpiCenters

02/04/2021

They Asked for PPE and Got Body Bags Instead—She Turned Them Into a Healing Dress

Vogue – Fashion

In March, public health researcher Abigail Echo-Hawk (Pawnee) and her colleagues at the Seattle Indian Health Board reached out to their local and federal partners for more PPE so they could continue serving Washington’s Native population. When they received a large package a few weeks later they were elated—until they opened it and found a stack of body bags inside.

By Cecilia Nowell
February 4, 2021

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They Asked for PPE and Got Body Bags Instead—She Turned Them Into a Healing Dress

Photo: Echo-Hawk’s dress worn by one of the staff members of the Urban Indian Health Institute.
Credit: Samuel Fu

Tribal EpiCenters

12/19/2020

Teepees erected on Rims to honor those who have died as well as provide beacon of hope

TEC News, TECs in the Media

Billings Gazette – Local News

William Snell’s record for erecting a teepee is just under 14 minutes. It’s a bit more complicated in the winter, he said, but in a little more than five hours on Saturday, seven teepees were standing tall atop the Billings Rimrocks, their white canvas taut against the winter winds moving across the snowy prairie.

By Anna Paige
December 19, 2020

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Teepees erected on Rims to honor those who have died as well as provide beacon of hope

Photo: Teepees are lit with colored lights in this long exposure photograph as a Delta flight from Minneapolis flies overhead as it approaches Billings Logan International Airport at Swords Park in Billings on Saturday
Credit: Mike Clark, Billings Gazette

Tribal EpiCenters

12/08/2020

ITCA TEC Success Story: After Action Review Toolkit & Guided Workshop

Success Stories, TEC News

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.

After Action Review Toolkit & Guided Workshop cover image

View/Download Toolkit (PDF 3.1 MB)

“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.”

– Tribal staff participant

Tribal EpiCenters

12/04/2020

Opioid Use Disorder Law and Policy: Impacts on American Indians and Alaska Natives

TEC News, Training, Webinar

December 11, 2020
1 p.m. CNT

Topic:
Tribal Law & OUD

Description:
As the substance use disorder crisis continues to devastate communities across the United States, Tribal and American Indian communities are also impacted; yet insufficient attention has been paid to the law and policies perpetuating this crisis in Indian country. As sovereign nations, Tribes are uniquely situated to respond public health issues using their inherent sovereign authorities. Yet, issues related to federal Indian law and cross-jurisdictional issues between Tribes, states, and the federal government further complicate the implication of evidence-based legal interventions by Tribes or to support American Indian and Alaska Native communities. This webinar will explore Tribal, state, and federal substance use disorder law and policy and its impact in Indian country. It will focus on a variety of issues related to substance use disorder, with an emphasis on opioid use disorder.

Facilitated by the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Epidemiology Center and presented by Aila Hoss, JD

Aila Hoss is public health attorney and an Assistant Professor at the University of Tulsa College of Law where she teaches and researches Indian law and health law. Prior to teaching, Professor Hoss practiced public health law as a staff attorney with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Public Health Law Program, where she worked to improve public health through the development of legal tools and the provision of legal technical assistance to state, Tribal, local, and territorial governments.

Tribal EpiCenters

11/20/2020

Intervention Research to Improve Native American Health (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)

Grant Opportunities, TEC News

The purpose of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is to support research on interventions to improve health in Native American (NA) populations. This includes 1) etiologic research, where there is a significant gap in knowledge, that will directly inform intervention development or adaptations, 2) research that develops, adapts, or tests the efficacy or effectiveness of health promotion and disease prevention interventions, 3) research that tests culturally informed treatment or recovery interventions and 4) where a sufficient body of knowledge on intervention efficacy exists, research on dissemination and implementation that develops and tests strategies to overcome barriers to the adoption, integration, scale-up, and sustainability of effective interventions.

Applications Due: May 17, 2021

View Grant Opportunity