Local Programs Aim To Improve Culture-Based Health Services; American Indian Tribe To Participate In Federal Substance Use Effort

Cherokee Nation: The tribal group is one of five chosen to assist in a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration-sponsored project that promotes substance use prevention programs in American Indian communities, the Muskogee Phoenix reports. SAMHSA will serve as the hub for information on services and programs that aim to prevent substance abuse and related problems among American Indians (Muskogee Phoenix, 12/10).


Mental Health Association of Westchester County, N.Y.: The van Ameringen Foundation awarded the group a $50,000 grant to support expanding Nuestro Futuro, which serves Hispanics. The group will use the grant to eliminate a waiting list for bilingual and bicultural mental health services at its clinics and to expand education and outreach efforts (Westchester, 12/12).


San Joaquin County, Calif.: The county has entered a $1.1 million agreement with local not-for-profit Human Services Projects to better serve Asian, American Indian, black, Hispanic, Muslim, Middle Eastern and gay populations through its Community Behavioral Intervention Services program, the Stockton Record reports. The program, which is one of many efforts the county is planning to address minority populations, aims to help people with severe mental illnesses keep their jobs or stay in school, have stable housing and avoid hospitalization. Lynn Thomas, a county program manager, said the not-for-profit group likely will be able to help the county assess and resolve difficult situations, potentially avoiding hospitalizing patients (Johnson, Stockton Record, 12/8).


University of California-Irvine: The university has begun construction on a $40.5-million medical building that will be the home for various health programs aimed at underserved communities, including one that helps medical students prepare to work in predominately Hispanic communities, the Costa Mesa Daily Pilot reports. As part of the Program in Medical Education for the Latino Community, students will participate in a six-week cultural exchange in Mexico. The 65,000 square-foot building is expected to open in fall 2009 and will be the first UCI facility dedicated to medicine in at least two decades at the school, according to the Daily Pilot (Serna, Costa Mesa Daily Pilot, 12/7).


University of North Dakota: The school's Recruiting American Indian Nurses program this week held midyear graduation ceremonies for eight American Indian nursing students, the Grand Forks Herald reports. Before the program, few American Indians went into nursing and few people who were not American Indian wanted to work on reservations, according to the Herald. More than 90% of graduates of the program end up working on American Indian reservations in the Dakotas, Montana, Minnesota and other states (Yellow Bird, Grand Forks Herald, 12/12).


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