GREAT LAKES NATIVE AMERICAN RESEARCH CENTER FOR HEALTH

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Great Lakes Tribal Epidemiology Center Overview
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Great Lakes Tribal Epidemiology Center Service
Area
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Great Lakes Tribal Epidemiology Center Staffing

• Kristin Hill, MSHSA (khill_at_glitc.org) Epi
  Center Project Director
• Olivia Byron-Cooper, MPH (ocooper_at_glitc.org)
  Behavioral Health Epidemiologist
• Kimmine Pierce, MS (kpierce_at_glitc.org) Chronic
  Disease Epidemiologist
• Allison LaPointe, MPH (alapointe_at_glitc.org)
  Maternal and Child Health Epidemiologist
• Dina Chapman (dchapman_at_glitc.org) - MIS Analyst
  (area wide RPMS training)
• Nancy Bennett (nbennett_at_glitc.org)- MIS Analyst
  (area wide RPMS training)
• Jean Koranda (jkoranda_at_glitc.org)
  Administrative Assistant
• WEBSITE www.glitc.org
• TELEPHONE [phone]

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MISSION - CORE VALUES

• Mission
• To support Tribal communities in their efforts
  to improve health by assisting with data needs
  through Partnership Development, Community Based
  Research, Education, and Technical Assistance.
• Core Values
• Tribes Come First
• Excellence
• Responsiveness
• Trust
• Responsibility
• Cultural Sensitivity
• Integrity
• Flexibility
• Respect
• Reliability

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Main Goal To Build Epidemiological Capacity

• Building Partnerships
• Tribal Specific Data, Access to state/national
  data
• Community Based Education/Project Development
• Training
• Technical Assistance and Project Support

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History/Ongoing Work

• 1. Provide updated community health profiles to
  34 Tribes and 3 Urban programs in the three state
  area (MI, WI, MN).
• 2. Provide training and support regarding general
  epidemiological principles
• 3. Provide ongoing coordination with identified
  Tribal, local, state and federal partners
  concerning the health information needs.
• 4. Provide support and technical assistance to
  epidemiological/prevention projects within the
  three-state area (MI, MN, WI).

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SPF SIG Grant

• Behavioral Health Epidemiologist contracted out
  to work on project
• Ten Tribes in Wisconsin participating
• Tribes/Bands are Unique

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Epidemiological Workgroup

• Made up of at least one participant from each
  Tribe/Band
• Often the same individual serving on the Advisory
  Council
• Dynamic
• Generally low data knowledge/skill level
• Complicate decision making process

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Substance Abuse/Use Profile Report Summary

• Of those who drink (73 of adults), many binge
  drink (42).
• Mortality from alcohol related liver cirrhosis is
  higher among AI/AN compared to all races in WI
  (age adjusted rate of 20 vs. 4.1 per 100,000)
• Suicide rate higher among AI/AN compared to all
  races in WI (Age adjusted rate of 30.76 vs. 11.28
  per 100,000
• Trend in cigarette use slowly declining but still
  higher than all races
• Trend in cigarette use during pregnancy declining
  but still higher than all races
• Arrests for marijuana sales are low, but arrests
  for possession are high compared to other races
  in WI

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Epidemiological Data Constructs/Indicators Used
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Data Limitations

• Trust
• Most data come from secondary sources
• Population figures are often under-represented
• Underrepresentation in statistical analysis
• Small sample sizes
• Other category
• Racial Misclassification
• Use of qualitative data is not universally
  accepted

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Things Learned

• You are not alone
• Something is better than nothing
• Forever a draft
• Proxy measures
• Use the data gaps to inform and educate
• Both Tribal members and state/national players
• Use them to make your point

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Next Steps

• Building data capacity within Tribes
• Collaborating with the state of WI to improve
  AI/AN data
• Developing tools to help fill existing data gaps
• Continually sharing information with anyone who
  will listen

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My Contact Information

• Olivia Byron-Cooper
• Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council Epidemiology
  Center
• www.glitc.org
• Email ocooper_at_glitc.org
• Phone [phone]