Substance use disorder and suicide constitutes a public health crisis among American Indian populations in the state of Washington, impacting disproportionately upon Tribal youth residing in the rural communities and reservations. Coast Salish tribal people continue to suffer disproportionately from substance use disorders and suicide relative to other ethnic minority and non-minority groups in Washington State.  COVID-19 has amplified health inequities in American Indian Communities because of underfunded and under-resourced health systems.

​

Our vision for our NWWIHB Native Connections Project is to keep our Tribal youth and our communities Coast Salish Strong. As the nation’s public health emergency declaration expired on May 11, 2023 our Tribal communities are preparing to gather again. To realize our vision, we propose to utilize findings from the Native Transformations Project (NTP) to develop universal and selective prevention strategies that are culturally-grounded and strengths-based with the goal to build protection and resilience against substance misuse and suicide among youth 10 to 24 years.  The NTP involved a partnership between three Tribes, Lummi Nation, Swinomish Tribal Community and Upper Skagit Tribe, along with the NWWIHB, the Northwest Indian College and University of Alaska Fairbanks. The NTP collaboration was the first step in the development of a cultural model of prevention that would build Coast Salish strengths, protection and resilience in youth.

 

We have taken this evidence-based project to develop services for achieving our vision. 

Factors that contribute to wellness include sources of strength:  Family, Community, Individual and Spiritual. 

​

Goals

Goal 1:  To promote Coast Salish Protective Factors among youth 10 through 24 years.

Goal 2:  To increase Tribal readiness and capacity in the NWWIHB service area to deliver youth prevention, referral, follow and postvention services and conduct mental health promotion.

Goal 3:  To develop community-driven strengths-based and cultural prevention strategies using results from the Native Transformations Project and implement the strategies with the youth ages 10 through 24.

Goal 4:  To keep our youth in our communities Coast Salish Strong.