AAIP’s Healthy Active Native Community Program Congratulates 5 Tribal Health Department Awardees

Press Release

February 6, 2015

AAIP’s Healthy, Active Native Community Program Congratulates 5 Tribal Health Department Awardees

The Association of American Indian Physicians’ (AAIP) is pleased to announce the 2015 Healthy, Active Native Communities’ Tribal Health Department Awardees! In 2012 AAIP was awarded a 5-year CDC OSTLTS Cooperative Agreement – Capacity Building Assistance – to sustain and improve the performance of tribal public health systems. One of the programs funded through this initiative is the AAIP Healthy Active Native Communities (HANC). The Healthy Active Native Communities program’s mission is to support innovative, culturally appropriate, effective approaches to prevent obesity and improve nutrition and physical activity in American Indian communities. Through a competitive process, five Tribal Health Departments were awarded $5,000 to adapt and implement the CDC Winnable Battles Strategies to engage their community in improving health. The AAIP funded proposals will result in environmental, systematic, and/or policy change so that the results are sustainable, rather than one-time events.

The Five Tribal Health Departments AAIP is partnering with are the Absentee Shawnee Tribe, Iguigig Village, Oklahoma City Indian Clinic, Sacramento Native American Health Center, and Ho-Chunk Nation Department of Health.

Three tribal health departments are utilizing the CDC Winnable Battle Strategy to increase physical activity through creation of or enhanced access to physical activity with informational outreach. One will be implemented in a worksite setting, one in a Tribal health clinic, and one in the community center.

Absentee Shawnee Tribe (Norman, OK)

The goal of the project is to increase Moderate Intensity Physical Activity (MIPA) by employees of the Absentee Shawnee Tribal Health Clinics in Little Axe and Shawnee during work hours. With approval from upper management and a current policy in place, the Employee Steering Committee will enhance policy and access to physical activity opportunities to increase utilization of work site MIPA policy.

Igiugig Village Council (Igiugig, AK)

The goal of this project is to increase physical activity in the Native Village of Igiugig to promote healthy living and prevent obesity and diabetes through increased access to fitness equipment, implementation of a 8-week Healthy Village Challenge, involving community members of all ages and educating residents on exercise / fitness strategies and healthy diet while making it culturally relevant to Yup’ik people.

Oklahoma City Indian Clinic (OKC, OK)

Oklahoma City Indian Clinic (OKCIC) will create a Children’s Fun and Fitness Centerto offer a place for the hundreds of young, overweight American Indian patients we serve to engage in safe, culturally appropriate, medically supervised physical activity. The proposed Center will provide exercise equipment designed to accommodate American Indian youth between the ages of 6 and 12, a population with some of the highest rates of obesity and Type 2 diabetes in the country.

Two tribal health departments are utilizing the CDC Winnable Battle Strategy to increase consumption of fruits and vegetables through support and promotion of community and home gardens. One will be implemented in a community center setting and one in the homes of Tribal families.

Sacramento Native American Health Center, Inc. (Sacramento, CA)

The Health Center will partner with the Native American Heritage Commission and CHEF to design, implement, and sustain a community garden at the CA Indian Heritage Center (CIHC). The SNAHC will occupy two acres for the purpose of sustainable farm-to-fork and community supported agriculture. Through this funding opportunity, the health center will purchase the necessarily supplies to implement the garden, including seeds, instruments, and other supplies (like a locking shed to house the materials). We intend to use the L_e_t_’s_ _M_o_v_e_! Community Garden as a framework for designing the space and program. Further technical assistance will be requested of American Community Garden Association and consultants who will assist staff and participants in developing a seasonal and traditional array of produce and other plants to harvest.

Ho-Chunk Nation Department of Health (Black River Falls, WI)

The goal of this project is to increase the vegetable intake of Tribal families in the six Ho-Chunk Communities using pallet gardens. A pallet garden is a raised garden bed using recycled pallets. Most families will have a garden that is one to two pallets high while elders who participate in the program will have their gardens stacked six pallets high, with dirt only in the top two pallets, so they don’t have to kneel down to tend it. The advantages of raised garden beds are numerous including providing easy access to the whole garden, a large variety of plants can fit in a small space, less weeding, and suitable for community developments or apartment buildings.

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