Steps to a HealthierUS logo Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan

The Steps to a HealthierUS five-year cooperative agreement program aims to help Americans live longer, better, and healthier lives by reducing the burden of diabetes, overweight, obesity, and asthma and addressing three related risk factors—physical inactivity, poor nutrition, and tobacco use.

For FY 2003, this U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) program allocated $13.6 million to fund 23 communities, including the Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan, to implement community action plans to reduce health disparities and promote quality health care and prevention services.

Project Area

  • 8 of 11 federally recognized tribal communities covering 38 of the 83 counties in Michigan (population 42,786 American Indians).
  • The following Tribal communities: Bay Mills Indian Community, Grand Traverse Bands of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Hannahville Indian Community, Huron Potawtomi Indian Community, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians, Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, and Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.
  • Part of the four-state region known as the Bemidji Area.

Target Population for Steps Interventions

Michigan American Indian youth, elders, and adults.

Proposed Interventions

Tribal leaders will become advocates for primary prevention and will develop specific assessments and plans for Steps implementation in their communities.

Media

  • Implement community-wide media campaigns to promote healthy food choices, such as the 5 A Day for Better Health Program, and decrease tobacco use and secondhand smoking, such as the American Lung Association’s (ALA) Poisoning Our Children campaign.
  • Policy

  • Each tribe will implement policies on tobacco use and tribal school nutrition programs as needed.
  • School-Based

  • Tribes will select two school-based interventions, such as the ALA’s Tools for Schools, designed to give school the information and skills they need to manage air quality, on the basis of a community assessment.
  • Community-Based

  • Execute a wide-scale community wellness assessment, such as the Personal Wellness Profile (PWP) by Wellsource. Tribal staff will be trained on this wellness software and will perform the assessment at health fairs to gather data.
  • Create a resurgence of interest in passing on traditional wisdom and cultural practices, including consumption of highly nutritious traditional foods.
  • Workplace

  • Coordinate brown bag lunches for employees at local casinos and hotels to discuss a health promotion agenda, such as increasing healthier choices in vending machines.
  • Health Care

  • Train health care providers on health promotion initiatives such as A Systems Approach to Tobacco: Clinical Guidelines, and on using weight management screening and education for people who are obese.
  • Evaluation

    HHS will provide training and technical assistance to help each Steps community develop measurable program objectives and specific indicators of progress and use relevant data to support ongoing program improvement. HHS also will conduct a national evaluation of the overall program. Existing data sources, such as the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, will be used to identify and measure program outcomes and assess progress toward program goals.

    Community Consortium

    Tribal Head Start and Early Head Start programs, Michigan Department of Education, Title VII Indian Education program, tribal school staff, state 5 A Day Program, State Department of Community Health, American Lung Association, American Diabetes Association/Upper Peninsula Diabetes Outreach Network, Indian Health Service-supported programs (i.e., tribal community health staff, Tribal Fitness Center Directors, Tribal Gaming and Hotel Human Resources staff).

    Michigan Inter-Tribal Council Contact

    Cathy C. Edgerly, BS
    Steps Program Coordinator
    Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan
    2956 Ashmun Street
    Sault Ste. Marie, MI 49783
    (906) 632-6896
    (906) 635-4212 fax
    cathye@itcmi.org
    www.itcmi.org

    Note: Steps communities have until May 2004 to finalize their community action plans. Proposed interventions may change accordingly.

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