Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #108213

Roy M. Gabriel, PhD¹, R. Dale Walker, MD², Elizabeth Hawkins, PhD², Jane Grover¹, Katherine E. Laws, BA¹, Jeffrey R.W. Knudsen, MA¹, and Douglas A. Bigelow, PhD². (1) RMC Research Corporation, 522 S.W. Fifth Avenue, Suite 1407, Portland, OR 97204, 503-223-8248, roy_gabriel@rmccorp.com, (2) Center for American Indian Health, Education and Research, Oregon Health & Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road, m/c GH 151, Portland, OR 97239

In partnership with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), the One Sky National Resource Center is establishing a process and set of criteria for identifying best practices in substance abuse treatment specifically for American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN). Acknowledging the vital role of population and community context in health promotion and care, the World Health Organization (WHO) advanced a definition of best practices as those whose evidence arises from a combination of traditional Western scientific methods and indigenous knowledge. Since its inception in 2003, the One Sky Center has assembled information on a collection of substance abuse prevention and treatment programs, and made it available nationally through a database search and query mechanism housed on its website, www.oneskycenter.com. In 2004 and 2005, One Sky convened two gatherings of traditional healers and published researchers experienced in the study of substance abuse programs in native communities. The product of these meetings includes a series of monographs (available on the website) and a cohort of AI/AN behavioral health professionals pursuing the implementation and adaptation of evidence-based practices in their native agencies and communities. This presentation reports on some of the key ingredients to effective treatment programs in these communities, and their relationship and contrast with evidence-based practices as reflected in mainstream sources such as the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), and SAMHSA's National Registry of Effective Programs and Practices (NREPP).

Learning Objectives:

As a result of this presentation, participants will be able to
• Identify a set of best practices in substance abuse treatment applicable to American Indians and Alaska Natives
• Articulate the differences between traditional Western scientific method and indigenous knowledge in native communities
• Discuss the importance of cultural competence in the dissemination of best practices in substance abuse treatemnt

Keywords: American Indians, Drug Injectors

Related Web page: www.oneskycenter.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.