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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Tribal communities

Wandering Elder & Alzheimer's Toolkit: Creating a Tribal Elder Safety Net to Address Wandering Persons
Provides guidelines, tools, and strategies supporting community responses to wandering incidents among tribal elders with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. Discusses cultural, clinical, and community factors influencing ADRD prevalence and treatment, wandering behavior, and community response in tribal nations and communities.
Date: 03/2025
Sponsoring organization: International Association for Indigenous Aging
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Two Modeling Strategies in Analyzing Clustered Time-to-Event Data: The Strong Heart Family Study
Examines the use of the shared frailty and marginal Cox proportional hazards models to study associations between leukocyte telomere length and time-to-incident stroke among 4,635 American Indian study participants from tribal communities in Arizona, Oklahoma, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Discusses effective use of data models for population genetic studies.
Author(s): Heather Willmott, Caroline Gochanour, Kai Ding, et al.
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 22, 240387
Date: 03/2025
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Exploring Strategies for Small Local & Tribal Health Departments to Succeed in Accreditation
A recorded webinar that discusses challenges small and tribal health departments face when preparing for the accreditation process. Provides guidance and strategies to help accelerate and achieve accreditation. Transcript available below description.
Additional links: Slides
Author(s): Peg Allen, Matthew Fifolt, Amy Belflower Thomas, Jennifer Clarke-Lofters
Date: 03/2025
Sponsoring organization: Public Health Accreditation Board
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Modular Decentralized Water System Associated With Improved Child Health and Increased In-Home Water Use in Remote Alaska Native Communities
Explores the health effects of using Miniature Portable Alternative Sanitation Systems (Mini-PASS) on children 12 years old and younger in tribal communities in Alaska. Discusses Mini-PASS as an affordable option for communities that require a decentralized water system that doesn't require piping or sewer. Highlights the health and sanitation benefits such a system can bring to these communities.
Author(s): Amanda Hansen, Gretchen Day, Marla Wehrli, Laura Eichelberger
Citation: Journal of Water and Health, 23(3), 364–372.
Date: 03/2025
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Exercising Self-Governance Through an Indian Managed Care Entity: The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Tribal Option
Profiles the Cherokee Indian Hospital Authority (CIHA), a health system serving the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI). Discusses the design and impact of their Medicaid managed care entity.
Author(s): Anne Smithey, Rob Houston
Date: 03/2025
Sponsoring organization: Center for Health Care Strategies
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Machine Learning to Predict Dementia for American Indian and Alaska Native Peoples: A Retrospective Cohort Study
Describes a dementia risk prediction model for American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations who use Tribal health services. Utilizes data from the Indian Health Service (IHS) National Data Warehouse to analyze dementia risk for 17,398 AI/AN adults, discussing health and demographic predictors of risk.
Author(s): Kayleen Ports, Jiahui Dai, Kyle Conniff, et al.
Citation: The Lancet Regional Health - Americas, 43, 101013
Date: 03/2025
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State of California 2025-2029 Federal Consolidated Plan: Public Comment Draft
Draft report assessing needs and conditions and identifying priorities related to the implementation of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funding programs administered by the California Department of Public Health, including the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), Home Investment Partnerships Program (HOME), National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF) and more. Discusses health, housing, homelessness, infrastructure, and economic development in Colonias and rural and tribal communities throughout.
Date: 02/2025
Sponsoring organizations: California Department of Housing and Community Development, California Department of Public Health
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Key Findings from a 2024 Survey of Native American Caregivers: Experiences with Food Access and the Summer Meals Program
Examines food insecurity for families in tribal areas and the use of federal food programs. Analyzes data from the Family Spirit FOOD (Finding Opportunities and Options for Distribution of Nourishing Food for Tribal Communities) Survey to analyze use of congregate and rural non-congregate Summer Meals Programs.
Author(s): S. Vanegas, A. Harris, N. Neault, K. Nelson, A. Barlow
Date: 01/2025
Sponsoring organizations: Center for Indigenous Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, No Kid Hungry
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Food Access Interventions in American Indian and Alaska Native Communities: A Scoping Review
Examines food access in American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities and provides a scoping review that analyzes social ecological model (SEM) levels and their related food access interventions. Includes discussion on AI/AN food access issues in rural tribal locations.
Author(s): Danya Carroll, Lynn Mad Plume, Nicole Redvers
Citation: Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 14(1), 11-28
Date: 01/2025
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Factors Influencing the Choice Between Multi-Target Stool DNA and Colonoscopy for Colorectal Cancer Screening Among Alaska Native Peoples
Examines colorectal cancer (CRC) screening preferences and awareness among Alaska Native people living in rural or remote areas of Alaska. Compares attitudes toward colonoscopy and multi-target stool DNA test (mt-sDNA) testing, including discussion of common barriers to access.
Author(s): Lauren A. Jeffries, Christie A. Flanagan, Lila J. Finney Rutten, John B. Kisiel, Diana G. Redwood
Citation: Life, 15(1), 120
Date: 01/2025
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