Monday, May 19, 2025
5/19/2025
NARA NW WISEWOMAN Project - The proposed NARA NW WISEWOMAN project will build on the NARA NW WISEWOMAN Program’s (NWP) experience, expertise, and capacity to implement a successful model of culturally tailored cardiovascular health interventions for American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) people living in the NARA NW service area of Portland, OR, who have the highest heart disease related morbidity and mortality compared to other races. NARA NW, as a Tribal WISEWOMAN Program, has made a direct impact on improving health equity by addressing social determinants of health (SDOH) and offering culturally appropriate heart disease screening, risk reduction counseling, and healthy behavior support services (HBSS) to low-income, uninsured or underinsured AI/AN and other eligible women living in the Portland metropolitan area for the last five years. Unfortunately, hypertension remains undiagnosed and unmanaged in many WISEWOMAN eligible AI/AN women living in the NARA NW service area. Project goals include ensuring all NARA NW Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (BCCEDP) eligible women have access to evidenced-based cardiovascular disease (CVD) screenings, prevention and treatment and working toward eliminating heart disease related health disparities in this priority population. As an Urban Indian Health Organization, NARA NW has over fifty-years-experience offering services to the community and collaborating with Local, Tribal, State, and Federal programs. The NWP currently works with NARA NW partners and culturally appropriate community social support services to identify, assess, and address SDOH, and proposes to expand these efforts to include tracking outcomes for all referrals to social support services for the NARA NW service population. The WISEWOMAN program services are connected through partnerships with the Urban Indian and Portland Metro community, stakeholders, the NARA NW BCCEDP and Diabetes Treatment & Prevention Program and other CDC diabetes, heart disease and stroke programs. The Oregon Health Authority, American Heart Association, HRSA National Hypertension Control Initiative, the nine federally recognized tribes in Oregon, and Portland- based Community Health Systems are also important partners. The NWP proposes to leverage these well-established partnerships to impact change and to improve the cardiovascular health of AI/AN in Oregon. Current capacity of the NWP includes trained and skilled staff, an established Evaluation Team, an existing network of NARA NW programs and community partners offering social support services, and organizational capacity to meet all grant deliverables and requirements. From October 2018-April 2023, the NWP enrolled 303 women and provided 2792 HBSS. The NWP directly provides CVD risk assessments, culturally tailored HBSS and SDOH assessments to the WISEWOMAN eligible population. The NWP helps participants understand and reduce their risk of CVD and benefit from early detection and treatment. With funding from DP 23-0003, NARA NW proposes to provide services to low-income, under or uninsured women aged 35-64, to identify, assess, track and monitor SDOH, increase the number of women screened by 50% from the previous cooperative agreement and expand the number of women screened by at least 5% per year for the five-year cooperative agreement. The NWP is a well-established WISEWOMAN program, fully integrated with the NARA NW BCCEDP, and serves an identified population at high risk for CVD morbidity and mortality made vulnerable through SDOH. NARA NW has both the need and existing capacity to continue offering high quality CVD related services and to improve health equity in the Portland Urban Indian Community with a WISEWOMAN award.
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).