Overall In the Southcentral Foundation (SCF) proposed center grant entitled ? Population-based Interventions to Improve Behavioral Health in a Tribal Healthcare System?, builds on existing relationships with University of Washington (UW) and new partnerships with the Henry Ford Health System (HFHS) in five independent yet related efforts across three research projects (RPs) and 2 cores. Given the well- documented behavioral health disparities among Alaska Native and American Indian (ANAI) people yet limited healthcare resources, the RPs will examine the effectiveness of behavioral health interventions with large scale promise given potential reach and limited resource requirements. ? Predictive Algorithms for Identifying Risk for Suicide in an Alaska Native Health Organization ?(RP1) will develop a prediction model of clinical factors prior to suicide using readily available health record information, then identify best practices for outreach to individuals identified to have potential suicide risk. ? Cultural Innovations for Recovery in Community-Based Learning Environments ? (RP2) will conduct a pragmatic clinical trial of an online learning community in which ANAIs with alcohol use disorders can communicate with each other and clinicians, as well as access educational and self-management materials. ?Genetic contributors to Vitamin D, Impact on Behavioral Health in Alaska Native People? (RP3) will test for an association between vitamin D deficiency and depression and explore the potential benefit of vitamin D supplementation in depression management. The RPs will be supported by two cores, an ? Administrative Core? and ? Faculty Development Core? which will build upon SCF Research Departmental infrastructure, support development of new investigators, and strengthen skills sets of researchers and staff within the department. These core capacity building efforts are critical to optimize success of the proposed RPs and future applied research within a tribal healthcare setting. This proposed Center is innovative in that it will expand capacity within an established ANAI owned and operated Research Department to address ANAI identified health disparities and better position the tribal healthcare organization and ANAIs involved to lead future research efforts in the betterment of ANAI health and healthcare provision.
Overall Behavioral health disparities among Alaska Native and American Indian (ANAI) populations are clearly documented. The disparity in suicide has garnered national and international attention; depression impacts significant numbers of ANAIs in their lifetime; and disproportionately high rates of alcohol-use disorders among ANAIs have consistently been documented. In this project, we will build the capacity within an ANAI run healthcare organization to conduct high-impact research examining the effectiveness of behavioral health interventions to address suicide, depression, and alcohol-use disorder, with limited resources.
