Supporting Resilience and Healing During COVID The Native Center for Behavioral Health is finding new ways to support Native communities and behavioral health professionals. BY DEBRA VENZKE
L
ike all organizations, the Native Center for Behavioral Health (NCBH) had to rapidly rethink how to conduct its work in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The center, housed at the University of Iowa College of Public Health, develops programs to support the behavioral health workforce in Native American and Alaska Native communities across the country. The center’s projects include three technology transfer programs funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in the areas of addiction, mental health, and prevention, as well as tribal opioid response technical assistance, mental health technical assistance for K-12 schools, and a Tribal College and University Initiative. It also hosts a Leadership Academy for Native American and Alaska Native behavioral health professionals. Because much of the center’s work typically involves travel along with face-to-face meetings and trainings, the pandemic quickly had an impact on programming. Events were postponed or adapted to a virtual format, but there was still the bigger question of how best to meet the needs of their constituents for the duration of the crisis. “In the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, our team did not quite know how to support tribal and urban Indian providers in the most productive way, so we decided to ask our tribal colleagues what they needed through weekly listening sessions,” says Anne Helene Skinstad, director of the NCBH. Based on the topics suggested by participants, the center compiles resources and creates programs around the themes put forth as important and relevant for their work.
COVID and Trauma Tribal communities have been hit hard by the pandemic. The incidence of COVID-19 cases among American Indians (AI) and Alaska Natives (AN) 12 INSIGHT FALL 2020
