NIHB Hosts 2013 National Tribal Public Health Summit

Maps, Moccasins, & Milestones: Our Journey to Wellness

From June 17-19, the National Indian Health Board (NIHB) hosted over 300 Tribal public health leaders, researchers, professionals, and other stakeholders at its National Tribal Public Health Summit at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida.

This year’s Summit, Maps, Moccasins, & Milestones: Our Journey to Wellness, provided a chance for attendees to discuss successes, challenges, opportunities, and the future of health care for American Indian and Alaska Native people. The Summit provided participants the opportunity to network with Tribal leaders, Tribal health directors, medical practitioners, mental health professionals, advocates, epidemiologists and researchers.

World Café to Create a National Tribal Public Health Policy and Action Agenda

As a special feature of the Summit, NIHB was pleased to offer a World Café style facilitated caucus to create the first ever National Tribal Public Health Policy and Action Agenda. By allowing participants to deeply explore public health issues that impact Indian Country in an interactive community forum, NIHB was able to support the first steps necessary to build a collective vision for the future.

Workshop Tracks

Summit workshops were divided into five different tracks including: Health Promotion/Disease Prevention, Workforce Development, Accreditation and Quality Improvement, Tribal Public Health Law and Policy, and Behavioral Health. The workshops offered a wealth of information and the track structure allowed attendees to select the workshops that best fit their focus or learning objectives for the Summit.

Other Events

During the plenary portion of the Summit, NIHB hosted a special seminar highlighting the Special Diabetes Program for Indians (SDPI) and next steps for its reauthorization. On the second day of the Summit, NIHB also offered three brown bag lunch seminars on: SDPI, the Methamphetamine and Suicide Prevention Initiative, and Sequestration & Advanced Appropriations. The Summit also included a culture night hosted by the Seminole Tribe and an opening welcome reception. As part of the pre-Summit offerings, NIHB coordinated half day trainings on Public Health Accreditation, Suicide Postvention, Social Marketing and Media, and Matrix Model for Methamphetamine Treatment.

Thank you

NIHB is grateful to all of our speakers, presenters, partners and participants. Thank you for making this year’s National Tribal Public Health Summit a success!

We hope to see you this year’s National Tribal Public Health Summit March 31 to April 2, 2014 in Billings, Montana!