This document is made available electronically by the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library as part of an ongoing digital archiving project. http://www.leg.state.mn.us/lrl/lrl.asp Recommendations from the Minnesota Department of Health American Indian Stakeholder Input Process October 2014 1 Please cite as: Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council, Inc. Recommendations from the Minnesota Department of Health American Indian Stakeholder Input Process funded by the Minnesota Department of Health, Office of Statewide Health Improvement Initiatives. Lac du Flambeau, WI: Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Epidemiology Center, Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council, Inc.; 2014. 2 Executive summary Background In early 2013, Minnesota Department of Health’s (MDH) Office of Statewide Health Improvement committed to a year-long community engagement process with the state’s tribal nations to gather information and rebuild the Tribal SHIP and Tribal Tobacco grant programs. MDH and representatives from the Tribes, hired a culturally competent contractor to plan, convene and facilitate a culturally appropriate stakeholder input process with the American Indian communities in Minnesota. Tribal members/grantees served on a steering committee for this process, which included selection of the contractor, providing input and feedback throughout the process, and serving as liaisons between their communities and the contractor/engagement process. *The above section was authored by MDH. In response to American Indian communities in Minnesota’s concerns about requirements to implement evidence-based obesity and commercial tobacco-related strategies and activities as part of Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) grants, the Stakeholder Input Process American Indian Community (SIPAIC) Project was formed. According to the Request for Proposal, MDH “commissioned this work in an effort to gather information that will identify culturally appropriate strategies and processes that can be incorporated into future grant funding cycles.” MDH commissioned this work by hiring a neutral contractor, through a competitive process, to convene stakeholders, gather input, analyze data and produce a report with recommendations to MDH based on the findings of this 3 process. Tribal representatives were part of the contractor selection team. Great Lakes Inter- Tribal Epidemiology Center (GLITEC) was the selected contractor. This stakeholder input process was intended to identify how evidence-based practices and other promising practices could be culturally adapted for American Indian communities to address obesity, commercial tobacco abuse/exposure, and to assist MDH in improving their grant making model for American Indian communities. This project was a collaboration between nine American Indian Tribes in Minnesota, two urban Indian organizations, MDH, and GLITEC. MDH was the funder and lead agency for this project. They were responsible for contractor selection and contract execution, and also gave project guidance. GLITEC planned and executed the activities related to the process, including method and tool design, gathering data, analyzing data and reporting the results to MDH and the American Indian Community in Minnesota. An Advisory Group for the project was formed consisting of MDH grantees representing Tribes and urban Indian organizations. Advisory Group Representatives provided feedback throughout the process and served as the primary contact to their respective community. Methodology Data were collected using key informant interviews, Dynamic Group Interactions for Feedback (DGIF) sessions, and electronic surveys. Each data collection method explored two topics areas: 1) Obesity and commercial tobacco-related strategies and activities and 2) MDH grant making and grant management. Final recommendations were developed by GLITEC based upon 4 analysis of the data that were collected; the recommendations were approved by the Advisory Group. Results There are a total of 48 recommendations in five broad topic areas: American Indian Community and MDH Relationships, Grant Making, Work Plan Development, Obesity and Commercial Tobacco-related Strategies and Activities, and Grant Management. The full list of recommendations may be found in the recommendations section of the Recommendations from the Minnesota Department of Health American Indian Stakeholder Input Process report. Some important findings include the need to develop collaborative, equitable relationships based on understanding and regular communication; the need for MDH to better understand American Indian community contexts and Tribal sovereignty and governmental processes; creating grant making processes that provide adequate time to respond to funding opportunities and that allow American Indian communities to select obesity and commercial tobacco-related strategies and activities that will be effective in their communities; increased flexibility with regard to work plan implementation, budgets, and grant management; and the importance of recognizing the uniqueness of each community. 5 Acknowledgements Advisory Group Representatives Deb Foster, Executive Director Ain Dah Yung Center Angela Gauthier, Family Children’s Director Ain Dah Yung Center Teri Morrison, Community Health Nurse Boise Forte Health and Human Services Marjorie Villebrun, CD Administrative Assistant Boise Forte Health and Human Services (former) Louise Matson, Director Youth Leadership Development Program Division of Indian Work Marisa Carr, Program Coordinator, Youth Leadership Development Program Division of Indian Work (former) Rozanne Hink, Certified Tobacco Cessation Educator Fond du Lac Community Health Services Fond du Lac Human Services Division Nate Sandman, Coordinator Fond du Lac Community Health Services Fond du Lac Human Services Division Paula Schaefbauer, Health Services/EMS Director Grand Portage Amanda Shongo, Leech Lake Band of Ojbwe SHIP Coordinator Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Shea Fleming, Paralegal Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Darin Prescott, Health and Human Services Director Lower Sioux Indian Community 6 Jesse Kodet, Tobacco Prevention Worker Lower Sioux Indian Community Marisa Pigeon, Community Health Nurse Lower Sioux Indian Community Becky Swansey, Community Health Educator Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Megan Cummings, Health Systems Coordinator Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe (former) Dacia Dickenson, Tobacco Prevention Coordinator Red Lake Comprehensive Health Services Kathleen Press, Tobacco Education/Policy Grants Coordinator Upper Sioux Community Amanda Johnson, Tobacco Cessation/Prevention Coordinator Upper Sioux Community (former) LaRaye Anderson, Community Health/Diabetes Project Manager White Earth Tribal Health Gina Boudreau, Health Education Specialist White Earth Tribal Health Minnesota Department of Health Staff Chris Tholkes, Assistant Division Director, Office of Statewide Health Improvement Initiatives Minnesota Department of Health Donna Isham, American Indian Community Specialist Minnesota Department of Health Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council Staff Brian Jackson, Great Lakes Native American Research Centers for Health Program Director Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council 7 Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Epidemiology Center Staff Jacob Melson, Behavioral Health Epidemiologist Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Epidemiology Center Meghan Porter, Maternal and Child Health Epidemiologist Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Epidemiology Center Samantha Lucas-Pipkorn, Chronic Disease Epidemiologist Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Epidemiology Center Kristin Hill, Director Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Epidemiology Center Chalyse Niemiec, Data Entry Technician Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Epidemiology Center Traci Buechner, Program Administrative Assistant Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Epidemiology Center Sarah Philbin, Intern Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Epidemiology Center Anneke Mohr, Contractor Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Epidemiology Center 8 Table of contents Executive summary ....................................................................................................................................... 3 Background ............................................................................................................................................... 3 Methodology ............................................................................................................................................. 4 Results ....................................................................................................................................................... 5 Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................................... 6 About this report......................................................................................................................................... 12 Impetus – .................................................................................................................................................... 13 SHIP and Tobacco Statutes ......................................................................................................................... 14 Project History ............................................................................................................................................ 16 Request for contract applications; contract award ................................................................................ 16 Advisory Group ......................................................................................................................................