TEC News | Tribal Epidemiology Centers

Tribal EpiCenters

05/10/2017

UIHI Health Data Literacy Training

TEC Event, TEC News

Module 1: Conceptualizing Diabetes Data

Join the Urban Indian Health Institute’s (UIHI’s) Demystifying Data project for a webinar on “Conceptualizing Diabetes Data.” The first in a series of two training sessions focused on using health data.

This webinar will walk participants through the process of selecting your data from multiple public sources and exporting it.

An overview of other considerations when working with data such as limitations and uses of imperfect data will be included. This training is designed for individuals with a beginner level of using health data or those with a more intermediate level of understanding who want a refresher on accessing and downloading publicly available data.

Date:
May 24, 2017, 10 a.m. Pacific

Please register by Wednesday, May 19, 2017 to receive access instructions. Email Joshua Smith, UIHI Project Coordinator, your full name, email, title and organization name to register.

Save the Date for Module 2: Preparing and Presenting Diabetes Data May 31, 2017 at 10 a.m. Pacific.

Tribal EpiCenters

04/27/2017

From Plans to Action: Prevention and Support for Pregnant Blackfeet Women Using Opioids

Press Release, TEC News

The Rocky Mountain Tribal Epidemiology Center (RMTEC) has received new funding from the Montana Healthcare Foundation to support their work with the Blackfeet tribe in combating opioid and other drug use among pregnant women on the Blackfeet Reservation.

From Plans to Action: Prevention and Support for Pregnant Blackfeet Women Using Opioids will follow up on a previous MHCF planning grant from 2016, which funded RMTEC and their Boston University-based partners to perform initial planning on opioid prevention among pregnant women on Blackfeet.

Last year’s funds supported a conference on Blackfeet; a detailed report and feedback; an inspirational Blackfeet visit to the Lummi tribe’s opioid maintenance program; and the formation of a brand new, multi-partner Opioid Prevention Task Force (OPT) on Blackfeet.

The new funding will continue this work, in partnership with the BU-based Center for Health Equity, Education, and Research (CHEER) by solidifying and coordinating the work of the OPT; conducting focus groups/key informant interviews with opioid-users and with clinicians on Blackfeet; conducting a “Gap analysis” to determine any treatment shortfalls for opioid-using pregnant women on Blackfeet; assessing the adequacy of prenatal screening; and establishing a referral system for care. The project will also consider and facilitate discussion of whether and how the program could address other substances such as alcohol and methamphetamine.

Montana Healthcare Foundation will also assist with creation of a business plan for Medication Assisted Treatment on the Reservation. The grant will foster the relationship between the Lummi and Blackfeet Tribes, as well as between the Blackfeet and other MHCF grantees working on opioid and substance use disorder prevention in Montana.

Tribal EpiCenters

04/14/2017

CTEC Updates April 2017

TEC News

Dr. Maureen Wimsatt was recently named national co-chair of the Trial Epidemiology Center Consortium (TEC-C). Dr. Wimsatt has worked on Indian health research and evaluation projects for nearly a decade and serves as the Director of the California Tribal Epidemiology Center (CTEC).

Dr. Maureen Wimsatt

Check out this toolkit (PDF 2.9MB) about cross-jurisdictional sharing (CJS) for emergency management (preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery) produced by the California Tribal Epidemiology Center (CTEC).

Learn more about CTEC.

Tribal EpiCenters

04/12/2017

Community Voices: BRFSS and ACES

TEC Event, TEC News

The United South and Eastern Tribes (USET) Tribal Epidemiology Center (TEC) hosted two webinars titled “Community Voices: BRFSS and ACEs” in March 2017. The webinar provided an overview of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs).

The BRFSS objective is to collect uniform data on preventive health practices and risk behaviors that are linked to chronic diseases, injuries, and preventable infectious diseases that affect the adult population.

The USET TEC staff shared how a Tribal Nation can benefit from conducting a BRFSS, how the survey is conducted, how BRFSS data can be used, and how USET can assist in the process.

ACEs are traumatic experiences occurring before the age of 18 that a person remembers as an adult.

An ACE score is a measure of cumulative exposure to adverse childhood conditions. The USET TEC staff reviewed the benefits of measuring ACEs and discussed the need to implement a comprehensive ACEs program, including training and referral processes. Resources were also shared with participants.

See the recorded webinar here.

Tribal EpiCenters

04/11/2017

Former UIHI Staffer Accepted to Five Graduate Schools

TEC News

Congratulations to Kyle Durrant who was recently accepted into five graduate school programs! Kyle is a former Urban Indian Health Institute Public Health Trainee (2014) at the Seattle Indian Health Board. After completing his Public Health Trainee internship Kyle worked full time as a UIHI Project Assistant.

Kyle is a descendent of the Yakama Nation and graduated with his Bachelor of Science in Public Health from the University of Washington in 2014.

Kyle’s grad school applications were accepted at the Columbia University School of Nursing and the Harvard T.H. Chan, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg, Columbia Mailman, and Yale Schools of Public Health. Kyle chose to enroll at Columbia University in New York City. Through their program, he will be able to graduate with a Master of Science in Nursing, and a Doctor of Nursing Practice within five years. By the end of the program he will be a licensed Family Nurse Practitioner.

One of the goals of the Urban Indian Health Institute’s Demystifying Data grant, funded by the Office of Minority Health, is to increase the number of American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) in public health professions. The UIHI provides training and mentorship opportunities to AI/AN students and early career professionals. Each spring the UIHI conducts a competitive summer internship. We are currently recruiting for the 2017 Public Health Trainee paid internship. See our website for more info and to apply.

The application deadline is April 14, 2017. Who knows, it could be a stepping stone to your own public health or health care career just like Kyle!

We’re proud to call you one of our family members Kyle and look forward to your continued success.