Oklahoma Area Tribal Epidemiology Center - Southern Plains Tribal Health Board (SPTHB) is a Tribally Designated Organization and is recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c) (3) Non-Profit organization. The IHS-OCA user population for fiscal year 2025 was 405,968 . The IHS-OCA user population for the our region has grown by 24.4% since 2010. The IHS-OCA is by far the largest service area. Oklahoma State Department of Health’s, State of the State’s Health Report identifies the AI population as ranking “F” in frequent poor health days for the past 10 years while the overall population of OK has increased from “D” to “C” during the same time period. In 2023 state rankings for American Indians place them as “F” for: infant, child, and adolescent unintentional injury deaths, adult unintentional injury deaths, infant mortality, total mortality, chronic lower respiratory disease deaths, high blood pressure, diabetes deaths, obesity, asthma prevalence, and unintentional poisoning deaths. An IHS Report for 2018-2020 estimated the Oklahoma area having one of the lowest adjusted life expectancies compared to other areas, at just 67.8 years . This is by no means all-inclusive of physical health issues for American Indians in Oklahoma, merely some of the most glaring. The OKTEC aims to strengthen public health capacity in the Southern Plains region through the delivery of high-quality services to assist Tribes, Tribal organizations, and UIOs with various activities such as identifying relevant health status indicators and priorities to support public health interventions that reduce morbidity and mortality in the population using sound epidemiologic principles. The work plan developed by the OKTEC in response to the announcement incorporates the 16 required objectives including required, optional, and allowable activities to address the seven functions of Tribal Epidemiology Centers. OKTEC proposes to address the seven TEC functions through several strands of inquiry and development. This includes convening an Advisory Council and developing CHAs and CHIPs including translating data into digestible graphical information briefs to share with Tribal leaders and additional stakeholders highlighting public health priorities. In collaboration with Tribal partner organizations, evaluate existing health systems and services and identify gaps in needs of improvement with recommendations and feasibility of implementing recommendations. In effort to build capacity and promote collaboration, the OKTEC will work with a minimum of two tribal organizations to conduct disease surveillance. OKTEC receives many requests for First Aid/CPR/AID certification trainings as well as emergency preparedness assessments and will continue providing this TTA. Additional frequent TTA requests involve data collection, data processing, survey development, survey implementation, data analysis, and reporting for many different programs as well as trainings on these topics, the OKTEC will continue to serve our tribal partners by providing for these TTA requests in the future. In addition to addressing the Seven Core Functions, the work plan includes Optional Activities 1, 2, 6, & 7. OKTEC is qualified to address these activities as demonstrated by previous accomplishments. These include but are not limited to: (1) the successful hosting of the annual Tribal Public Health Conference for 18 years. TPHC has grown into a premiere conference for Tribal Public Health with over 900 attendees representing 28 states and Canada this past year, (2) the presentation on data related topics both within our service area and nationally, (3) the development of CHA's and Community Health Provider Assessments in collaboration with tribal entities, (4) the development of longitudinal Community Health Profiles for each of the 38 tribal land areas, regional profiles, and state level profiles, and (5) presenting at conferences and working with individual tribal partners to educate on how to access and use data sources.
