Programs & Projects

To develop health promotion messages and campaigns that resonate with AI/AN communities, our team uses social marketing, an evidence-based planning process that improves the impact of health promotion messages. The model uses formative research to identify priority populations, segment the community into distinct audiences, pretest messages, materials and strategies with the audience, and then monitors the campaign to assess its effectiveness.

The NPAIHB was one of 8 tribal grantees to be chosen to participate in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) National Public Health Improvement Initiative program, aimed at systematically increasing performance management capacity and improving the ability to meet national public health standards. The NPAIHB will be facilitating education and technical support to increase the organizational capacity and Quality Improvement (QI) efforts of its 43 member tribes, while also promoting the integration of a “QI culture” and linking QI with public health accreditation of tribally-based health departments.

The mission of the Native Dental Therapy Initiative is to connect tribal communities with innovative approaches to address AI/AN oral health disparities, to remove barriers impeding the creation of efficient, high quality, modern dental teams and to provide opportunities for AI/AN people to become oral health providers.

We R Native is a multimedia health resource for Native teens and young adults. The service includes an interactive website (weRnative.org), a text messaging service (Text NATIVE to 24587), a Facebook page, a YouTube channel, a Twitter account, and print marketing materials. Special features include monthly contests, community service grants ($475), an “Ask Auntie” Q&A service and medically accurate information reviewed by experts in public health, mental health, community engagement, and activism.

IDEA-NW aims to improve the quality of race data for AI/AN through record linkages with health-related data systems and to disseminate health status data in ways that are locally meaningful for tribal health planning.

WTDP assists designated Indian health care programs in the Northwest and California Areas to build infrastructure and conduct accurate assessments of diabetes and associated complications for their service area.

The mission of the Northwest Tribal Comprehensive Cancer Program is to envision and work toward cancer-free tribal communities by taking an integrated and coordinated approach to cancer control. In collaboration with 43 Northwest tribes, the Northwest Tribal Cancer Control Project is implementing strategies that will reduce the cancer burden for American Indians and Alaskan Natives in the Northwest.

Native CARS Study (Children Always Ride Safe) implements and tests the effectiveness of interventions to improve the use of child passenger restraints among American Indian and Alaska Native children (AI/AN). The project is now disseminating the Native CARS Atlas: A Web-based Tool to Improve Child Safety Seat Use in Tribal Communities.

The Northwest Tribal Dental Support Center (NTDSC) provides training, quality improvement, and technical assistance to the 36 IHS/Tribal dental programs in the Portland Area to improve the oral health status of the AI/AN people in the Pacific Northwest.

The Northwest Tribal FASD Project seeks to reduce the incidence of FASD and to assist tribal communities to improve the quality of life of those living with FASD.

NPAIHB’s Immunization Program works with all IHS and tribal clinics in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. Services range from gathering data to assisting clinics with vaccine procurement.

The goal of the Injury Prevention Program is to develop and implement effective injury prevention and education strategies across the 43 Northwest tribes, with an emphasis on motor vehicle safety and elder falls prevention.

Native It’s Your Game (NIYG): is an online, 13 lesson, culturally-appropriate sexual health curriculum that was adapted for American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) middle school youth, 12-14 years-old. Each lesson lasts between 30-45 minutes, and includes a mix of videos, interactive activities, quizzes, animations, and journal activities. Lessons cover healthy relationships, puberty and reproduction, HIV/STIs, pregnancy, refusal skills-training, and contraception. The study was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) as a five-year study.

Project Red Talon provides tribes with education, training, and technical assistance for the prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases in Indian Country.

THRIVE provides regional support for suicide prevention focusing on youth bullying, substance abuse prevention with a focus on cultural pride, resilience, and traditional healing, sexual assault prevention, and family violence prevention focusing on child maltreatment.

TOTS to Tweens is a study to test how interventions to toddler/community/caregivers influence the prevalence of caries in older AI children (“Tweens”). The study also tracks current community, environmental and family factors influencers that affect the oral health of older children.

WEAVE provides tribes with culturally adapted resources and technical assistance to address chronic disease through Policy, System, and Environment change.

The Youth Delegates are a group of Native youth who represent the tribes in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. They collaborate to share their voice on health programs and policies, and learn more about health and wellness careers. New members will become the official youth policy body for the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board and its member tribes. Youth Delegates will provide recommendations to the NPAIHB and other state and federal agencies about health programs and policies that affect young people. The goal is to involve youth in all levels of community decision-making.