This data book is a collaborative effort with the State of Alaska’s Bureau of Vital Statistics and the ANTHC, Alaska Native Epidemiology Center. It reports on leading causes of death for the Alaska Native population. Data are provided by age, gender, and by tribal health service regions Additionally, trends over time between 1980 and 2013 are included.
Click here or on image for full report (PDF 5.5MB).
The American Indian Alaska Native Mental Health Research journal recently published an article entitled “Native Generations: A Campaign Addressing Infant Mortality among American Indians and Alaska Natives in Urban Areas.”
The Native Generations campaign was a pilot project aimed to address disparities in rates of infant mortality in American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities and the general population. Former Urban Indian Health Institute staff, Shira Rutman MPH and Julie Loughran MPH, co-authored the work with Leah Tanner (Seattle Children’s Hospital), and Leslie L. Randall, RN, MPH, BSN (NiMiiPuu Health Board, Nez Perce Tribe). The campaign produced an 11-minute video which featured families, providers, and community members from diverse tribal and geographic backgrounds.
The preliminary findings conclude that 100% of AI/AN viewers liked the video and that the vast majority (80.4%) thought the video increased awareness of infant mortality rates and risk for infant mortality.
Going forward, the authors suggest that future studies should look at indicators that measure changes such as the utilization of Native-specific resources, baseline infant mortality knowledge, and evaluation of retention of information in order to collect the necessary information to support a full-scale of the Native Generations campaign.
For more information about the Native Generations project or resources developed for families, visit the Native Generations page on the UIHI website.
The full text article is available from the American Indian Alaska Native Mental Health Research journal.
Acknowledgements: This work was funded by a contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health Resource Center and the manuscript development was supported by the OMH American Indian and Alaska Native Disparities program AIAMP120015. Native Generations had many important collaborators. Please see the UIHI website for more information on those who contributed to the Native Generations campaign.
SID (Southwest Indigenous Data Portal) is a secure, online HITECH/HIPPA-certified data portal developed and operated by AASTEC staff.
This innovative system is customizable for tribal health programs (i.e. SDPI, CHR, Behavioral Health, etc.) to perform a variety of functions, including:
SID also eliminates local challenges with computer networking, data storage, confidentiality, and data security. AASTEC staff also presented on the development of SID at this year’s Native Research Network Conference in Cherokee, NC.
Click here or on image to view or download full size PDF (4MB).
2016 Theme — “Creating the Healthiest Nation: Ensuring the Right to Health.”
“APHA’s 2016 Annual Meeting and Expo brings together more than 12,000 of your peers from across the U.S. and around the world to network, educate and share experiences.”
See more photos, hits and highlights from the event here: APHA 2016: Hits & Highlights
Dr. Kevin English, TEC Director at AASTEC with Melissa Green of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars program.
TEC-C at APHA this week!
Dr. Kevin English, TEC Director at AASTEC with Kerri Lopez of the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board EpiCenter.
October is National SIDS Awareness Month!
American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities continue to experience exponentially higher rates of SIDS; with some AI/AN communities having a rate 115% higher than non-Hispanic white communities.*
The Urban Indian Health Institute, a Division of the Seattle Indian Health Board, is a partner within the National Action Partnership to Promote Safe Sleep (NAPPSS) and we have been working to share existing information on the six common controllable risk factors that put AI/AN infants at greater risk of SIDS, as listed by the Healthy Native Babies Project in 2006. In addition, we are promoting NAPPSS’ Action Plan with health care providers to encourage active conversations and strategies about SIDS risk-reduction and safe sleep behavior with infant caregivers. This is the third and final article of a 3-Part series focusing on the controllable risk factors of SIDS and safe infant sleep behaviors in Indian Country.
View the UIHI’s new broadcast online to learn about the NAPPSS strategies you can use for engaging and communicating with infant caregivers.
Visit the Center for Disease Control’s SIDS Awareness Month webpage to learn more about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
*Reference: Urban Indian Health Institute, Seattle Indian Health Board. (2011). Looking to the Past to Improve the Future: Designing a Campaign to Address Infant Mortality among American Indians and Alaska Natives. Seattle, WA.