As part of a community-driven solution, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium introduced the first successful dental therapist workforce in the United States in 2004. Dental Health Aide Therapists (DHATs) provide culturally appropriate dental education and routine dental services in Alaska Native communities, usually their home village, within the scope of their training. The program was recently profiled by Do Something Awesome, a film storytelling project of WorkingNation, to showcase unique solutions in workforce development across the U.S. The article and ...

Radon is a colorless, odorless, radioactive gas that can be a serious health hazard among people who are constantly exposed. Radon is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S., after smoking. During January’s Radon Action Month, our Alaska Native people are encouraged to learn more about radon, which is formed through the decay of uranium beneath the earth’s surface. It escapes through soil and can seep into homes that are built directly on the ground, have basements, or ...

Much like it takes time and patience to grow any plant, it took the planning and work from many for the traditional garden in the ANMC cafeteria courtyard to blossom. After its first year of toil, the garden’s harvest brought a bounty of plants from across the state and has become an area where our patients can stroll and relax as they recover. The idea for a traditional garden was first planted when ANTHC leadership envisioned a space where traditional ...

Recently, the ANTHC Tobacco Prevention Program graduated its first cohort of the Online Tobacco Treatment Specialist Training, hosted on ANTHC’s Distance Learning Network. The ANTHC Tobacco Prevention Program worked with our Tribal health partners to offer the online training to reduce the time and cost necessary to participate. The training teaches health care professionals the necessary skills to provide effective, evidence-based interventions for individuals who are ready to quit using tobacco. “If you can help even one person quit tobacco, ...

In the last decade, the ANTHC Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) has steadily grown its reach to provide nutritious food to our Alaska Native people. In its first year, 2008, the FDPIR program shipped an average of 9,000 pounds of food a month to the rural communities it served. Today, through a partnership with the Food Bank of Alaska, the program averages 59,000 pounds a month. To put that into perspective, an adult male moose can weigh anywhere ...

Many of us know or have heard a story about the impacts that non-immunized Alaskans, specifically children, have on others. National Immunization Awareness Month is an annual observance held to provide information on the benefits of immunization and the risks of foregoing important recommended immunizations. The State Health Improvement Plan, Healthy Alaskans 2020, works with local and statewide partners to raise awareness about the importance of immunization as an effective means of infectious disease prevention across the state. The associated ...