The Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board’s Tribal Opioid Response Consortium Phase 5 will facilitate the expansion of Northwest Tribes’ capacity for tribal substance use response. The overarching mission is to develop a comprehensive and strategic approach to assist Tribes in addressing the complex factors associated with a comprehensive substance use response by utilizing strategies outlined in the Tribal Opioid Response Strategic Agenda. This includes expanding access to culturally appropriate prevention, treatment, and recovery activities to reduce unmet treatment needs and substance-related deaths through a strategic response plan. TOR5 has the opportunity to reach at least 50,000 tribal members annually (100,000 over 2 years) through outreach, education, social marketing and media messages, and treatment and recovery services. SUD prevention, education, and treatment for this TOR5 grant are inclusive of opioid and stimulant use and misuse disorders. The goals and objectives for the grant are:
Goal 1: Prevent new cases of substance use disorder in AI/AN communities by increasing the use of evidence and culture-based interventions and innovative community-based strategies. The three objectives are 1) Include culture and tradition into SUD prevention strategies; 2) Increase awareness of tribal substance use response in AI/AN communities through social marketing & media materials and messaging and; 3) Educate community members, healthcare providers, and/or healers about opioids and stimulants.
Goal 2: Increase overdose reversal capacity and access to tribal, evidence- and practice-based training, treatment, and recovery services. The five objectives are 1) Incorporate harm reduction into tribal treatment and recovery services; 2) Develop programs for sub-populations affected by SUD (i.e. pregnant mothers and babies, active military and veterans, those incarcerated); 3) Develop an integrated and inclusive treatment model of care; 4) Develop comprehensive and inclusive recovery services and; 5) Offer ongoing training to providers.
Goal 3: Increase capacity building within the Tribes for the sustainability of SUD prevention, care, and services. The two objectives are 1) Cultivate responsive leadership and; 2) Cultivate responsive communities.
NPAIHB’s primary role in the TOR5 is to provide leadership, coordination, data management, analytic support, and training and technical assistance to participating Tribes in both the application and administration of the SAMHSA TOR 2022 grant. Our proposed activities will strengthen our partnerships with Northwest Tribes, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Indian Health Service (IHS), and the states of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. The NPAIHB TOR5 will expand access to integrated health services, thus reaching critically underserved American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) people living in the United States.