Effects of Substance Use Disorder Criminalization on American Indian Pregnant Individuals.

Individuals with substance use disorders (SUDs) are at markedly elevated risk of involvement in the criminal legal system. Over the past 30 years, substance use during pregnancy has been criminalized through laws on the federal, state, and tribal level. American Indian (AI) individuals are disproportionately affected by these laws due to their race, socioeconomic status, and limited access to SUD treatment.

American-Indian diabetes mortality in the Great Plains Region 2002-2010.

Objective: To compare American-Indian and Caucasian mortality rates from diabetes among tribal Contract Health Service Delivery Areas (CHSDAs) in the Great Plains Region (GPR) and describe the disparities observed.

Research Design And Methods: Mortality data from the National Center for Vital Statistics and Seer*STAT were used to identify diabetes as the underlying cause of death for each decedent in the GPR from 2002 to 2010. Mortality data were abstracted and aggregated for American-Indians and Caucasians for 25 reservation CHSDAs in the GPR.

Partnering with American Indian communities in health using methods of strategic collaboration.

Background: The Association for Prevention Teaching and Research (APTR) sponsored six regional workshops in 2010 on community engagement and community-engaged research. One of the six workshops was a collaborative effort between the Great Plains Tribal Chairman's Health Board (GPTCHB)-Northern Plains Tribal Epidemiology Center and the College of Public Health at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC-COPH).

Objectives: To create a meaningful and dynamic forum for the exchange of ideas and co-learning between researchers from urban, tribal and nontribal communities and to build the groundwork for development of sustainable partnerships between researchers and American Indian (AI) communities to eliminate health disparities.

Sexual assault services coverage on Native American land.

Native American women experience higher rates of sexual assault than other women in the United States, yet there is limited information on the accessibility of forensic services for Native American victims of sexual violence. This study used geographic information systems technology to map known sexual assault examiner (SAE) and sexual assault response team (SART) programs in the United States (n = 873) in proximity to 650 census-designated Native American lands. Analysis was repeated for 29 Indian Health Service and tribal-operated facilities that self-identified that they provide sexual assault examinations.

Breast and cervical cancer screening patterns among American Indian women at IHS clinics in Montana and Wyoming.

Objectives: We investigated factors associated with primary and secondary breast and cervical cancer screening among American Indian (AI) women receiving care from the Indian Health Service (IHS) in Montana and Wyoming.

Methods: Rates of primary screening (i.e.

Mysterious outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness associated with burritos supplied through school lunch programs.

From October 1997 through March 1998, three outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness among school children were linked to company A burritos. In September 1998, a similar outbreak occurred in three North Dakota schools following lunches that included company B burritos. We conducted an investigation to determine the source of the North Dakota outbreak, identify other similar outbreaks, characterize the illness, and gather evidence about the cause.