Office of Minority Health

Grantee Information

Organization: Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium

Organization Address: 4000 Ambassador Drive, Anchorage, Alaska 99508

Phone Number: 907-729-1900

Fax Number: N/A

Organization website URL (if any): www.anthc.org

Brief Description of the Organization: The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) is a not-for-profit tribal health organization managed by Alaska Native tribal governments and their regional health organizations. The Consortium was created in 1997 to provide statewide Native health services. ANTHC provides services in specialty medical care; operates the 150-bed, state-of-the-art Alaska Native Medical Center hospital; leads construction of water, sanitation and health facilities around Alaska; offers community health and research services; is at the forefront of innovative information technology; and, offers professional recruiting to partners across the state. As a member of the Alaska Native Health Board, ANTHC works closely with the National Indian Health Board to address Alaska Native and American Indian health issues. ANTHC works with customers, members of the Alaska Tribal Health System, and non-Native agencies that share common objectives to achieve a healthier status of living for Alaska Natives. ANTHC encourages its employees to provide the highest quality health services and encourages Alaska Native people to make healthy choices that keep families and communities strong. ANTHC also works with many partners, lawmakers, volunteers, and advocates toward building a unified health system to achieve these objectives.

Grant Project Information

Title of Grant Project: Closing the Gap at the Top of the World: Reducing Racial Disparities in Smoking in Alaska’s North Slope Borough

Amount of OMH Award: $200,000

Name of Project Director: Dana Diehl

Phone Number of Project Director: 907-729-2440

E-mail Address of Project Director: ddiehl@anthc.org

Abstract

The Alaska’s North Slope Borough has significant racial disparities in smoking prevalence in Alaska among Alaska Native/American Indian residents. Data gathered from the 2010 North Slope Borough (NSB) census showed that 59% of Alaska Native/American Indian (AN/AI) adults living in the area reported smoking cigarettes compared to 20% of Caucasian residents of the NSB. Because tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of mortality and morbidity, addressing cigarette smoking in this area is critical to seeing changes in overall mortality and morbidity disparities of the AN/AI population. ANTHC plans to address and reduce these disparities through its Closing the Gap at the Top of the World project.

The project will implement community interventions, which adhere to evidence-based best practices for tobacco prevention and control. ANTHC will develop a culturally-relevant community awareness campaign to increase knowledge and awareness about health effects of smoking. There will be subsequent efforts to integrate tobacco screening, education and treatment into routine healthcare practice. Efforts will be made to support current tobacco prevention efforts in the region and integrate identified best practices into all regional tobacco prevention activities. Additionally, ANTHC will disseminate products, best practices and results to local, regional, state, and national stakeholders. This project will strengthen partnerships between tribal health organizations, local government and the state of Alaska, and address contributing factors for tobacco use at the individual, environmental, and systems levels.

The expected outcomes for this project are a decreased smoking prevalence among Alaska Native/American Indian adults in the North Slope Borough from 59% to 56% by July 31, 2020 and a reduction of the cigarette smoking prevalence disparity between AN/AI and non-AN/AI adults in the NSB by 5% by July 31, 2020.

The evaluation of this project will include both process and outcome evaluation components. All project partners will work collaboratively to develop a Health Disparities Profile within the first six months of the project, and to develop and carry out the work plan throughout each grant year. In year five of the project, an updated Health Disparities Profile will be completed.

Process measures include:

• Number of providers trained as a Tobacco Treatment Specialist in the North Slope Borough region; and
• Number of providers trained through the online Alaska Brief Tobacco Intervention.

Outcome measures include:

• Smoking prevalence among AN/AI adults in the North Slope Borough;
• Smoking prevalence among white North Slope Borough residents;
• Percentage of adult smokers in the North Slope region who made a quit attempt in the past 12 months; and
• Percentage of adult smokers in the North Slope region who plan to quit within the next 30 days.

NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP FOR ACTION TO END HEALTH DISPARITIES GOALS

None identified by the grantee.

RELATED HEALTHY PEOPLE 2020 OBJECTIVES & SUBOBJECTIVES

• ECBP-10.4: Increase the number of community-based organizations (including local health departments, Tribal health services, nongovernmental organizations, and State agencies) providing population-based primary prevention services tobacco use
• TU-1.1: Reduce cigarette smoking by adults
• TU-2.2: Reduce use of cigarettes by adolescents (past month)
• TU-9: Increase tobacco screening in health care settings
• TU-10: Increase tobacco cessation counseling in health care settings