Tuesday, May 7, 2024
5/7/2024
The Kootenai Tribe of Idaho SDPI Program is small but impactful. Situated in an isolated rural area, our clinic serves tribal members from a broad geographical area, often providing the only medical intervention available to them. We have a small laboratory and pharmacy, and offer a physician clinic two days per week, nurse’s services 3 ½ days per week and patient care coordinator’s services 4 ½ days per week. Our staff prides itself on developing a relationship with each patient, creating the kind of trust necessary to influence their health choices. Our program emphasizes education; teaching lifestyle adaptations including diet, exercise, tobacco cessation, medication compliance, and stress reduction for both prevention of diabetes and control of the disease. Our physician provides extensive one-on-one guidance for each member of our Diabetic Registry as well as those patients with pre-diabetes symptoms, encouraging strong patient participation in protecting their health. In addition to personalized education sessions, the medical staff is focused on laboratory screening of the general tribal community to ensure early intervention and prevent disease progression, and regular laboratory monitoring of our diabetic patients to prevent complications of the disease. The Kootenai Tribe SDPI program also incorporates an educational component for the entire tribal community, including a Diabetes Awareness Day with speakers and activities, to broaden understanding of the disease and ways to prevent or control it. This year we also plan to offer nutrition classes for the community with culturally specific menu ideas and food purchasing and preparation guidance. We generally facilitate at least one extended community fitness challenge per year as well, offering T-shirts or another small incentive to all participants who complete the challenge. Our staff finds inspiration in knowing that in small ways, we make a big difference in our small community.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
