Addressing Indigenous Health

Native Americans have historically faced greater health disparities than almost any other population in the United States. The Center for Rural Health (CRH) works with tribal communities to help improve health outcomes and well-being for American Indians, specifically geared toward helping Elders.

What We Can Do for You

Related to addressing Indigenous health, we provide:

• Two national programs focused on Native American elder issues: the National Resource Center on Native American Aging program and the National Indigenous Elder Justice Initiative program.
• Training and resources to tribes across the country to address the lack of culturally appropriate information, training, and community education materials on elder abuse in Indian Country such as Online Interactive Educational Modules. We also provide assistance to tribes in addressing Indigenous Elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation through information and sharing resources. Training is available on conducting a needs assessment survey, grant writing, and the WELL-balanced program.
• Help identify and increase awareness of evolving Native Elder health and social issues along with collaborating with tribes. Through education, training, technical assistance, and research CRH assists in developing community-based solutions to improve the quality of life and delivery of support services to this aging population. CRH conducts and offers assistance with several surveys including needs assessment, Tribal Elder Abuse Services Survey, and the Native Elder Maltreatment Survey.

Our Expertise

Our Native American programs have a predominantly indigenous staff with expertise in Native geriatrics, Elder abuse, mental health, suicide prevention, health disparities, community-based participatory research and tribal participatory research, resiliency, health and wellness. We have worked with 234 of the 560 federally recognized tribes.

Key Contacts

• Jacque Gray, PhD
  Associate Director, CRH
  Program Director, National Indigenous Elder Justice Initiative
• Collette Adamsen PhD
  Program Director, National Resource Center on Native American Aging

Current Projects

• American Indian Health Research Conference
• Dakota Cancer Collaborative on Translational Activity (DaCCoTA)
• National Indigenous Elder Justice Initiative
• National Resource Center on Native American Aging
• Native Aging in Place Project
• Native Urban Elder Needs Assessment Survey
• North Dakota Rural Community-Based Palliative Care
• Primary Care Office