Safety in Numbers
Like all SPF incentive grantees, tribes receiving federal funds for prevention work are required to collect data about the nature, scope, and severity of substance use and misuse issues in their communities. In order to collect these data, however, the OIC first needed to overcome deep-seated fears among their member tribes. Tribal partners were concerned that such data might reveal problems in their communities and present the Native community unfavorably – a concern that stemmed far beyond the efforts of the OIC. “Tribes in the past have had people come in and ‘study them,’ and then report their data,” says Carlos Martinez, a prevention specialist who advised the OIC on the data gathering and analysis. “Sometimes those reports have been negative and have had terrible effects on the tribes.”
To address this concern, the OIC agreed to pool data from all four tribes and report it only in aggregate form, as a tribal organization. This approach eliminated the possibility of linking any “negative” findings to a specific tribal entity. With guidance from the Southern Plains Tribal Health Board, the OIC executed data-sharing agreements to formalize this approach and worked with SAMHSA to communicate the importance of reporting data in this way (i.e., as a tribal organization rather than as individual tribes). With SAMHSA’s approval, this approach allowed the OIC to move forward with their data collection efforts.
Create a Shared Vision
Agreeing to pool and report their data as a tribal organization facilitated a shift in perception among OIC partners—from identifying as individual tribes to seeing themselves as a group, with a shared responsibility to address the substance-related issues facing their communities. “Everybody agreed that, instead of serving Natives of one tribe or another, we needed to serve all Natives, regardless of what jurisdiction they lived in,” explains Martinez. In fact, after collecting and analyzing new data (made possible through their data-sharing agreements), the tribal partners now recognized that they shared significant problems with underage drinking and prescription drug misuse, which they collectively adopted as strategic priorities.
But the OIC’s shared vision extended beyond just these strategic priorities: consortium members also embraced the tenet of “Culture as Prevention,” calling upon the strengths of their shared traditions and the uniqueness of American Indian identity to guide their prevention work. “American Indians can feel left out of society, particularly here in Oklahoma where we don't have reservations and tribal members are spread out across the state," Anderson explains. "People opt out of society by abusing drugs and alcohol. Our message in our prevention work is learn about your culture. Be part of your culture. Because what you do impacts not only yourself, but it impacts your family, your community, and most importantly, it impacts the generations to come."
Level the Playing Field
Coming to the table, the OIC partners had varying levels of experience with substance use and misuse prevention, particularly with regard to data collection and reporting. While some had virtually no prevention experience, the consortium’s largest tribal partner, the Comanche Nation, had already been working on its own prevention efforts and was ready to hit the ground running. To get everyone on the same page and ensure the success of the collaboration, the OIC leveraged both the internal and external resources at its disposal.
Internally, the Comanche Nation took a lead role in mobilizing their tribal partners. “The Comanche already had the fire in their belly to [implement substance use prevention efforts],” explains Martinez. The Southern Plains Tribal Health Board also provided key guidance throughout the process, advising on the type of personnel that tribes would need to fulfill the grant requirements, what data they would need to collect, and how they should approach the process of selecting appropriate prevention strategies for their communities.
Externally, the OIC leveraged the support of SAMHSA’s Center for the Application of Prevention Technologies (CAPT), which provided tailored training to meet the needs of each tribal partner. “I can’t say enough good things about the CAPT,” says Melanie Johnson, the health board's SPF-TIG Grant Lead Project Manager. “They have gone out of their way, above and beyond the call of duty, to provide cultural sensitivity for American Indians.” The CAPT also helped the OIC overcome challenges related to high staff turnover: “When you’re working with tribal organizations, people come and go. The CAPT was instrumental in helping us rebuild that capacity within our organization.”