Overview

Good Health & Wellness in Indian Country (GHWIC)

The GHWIC program aims to reduce rates of death and disability from commercial tobacco use, diabetes, heart disease and stroke, and reduce the prevalence of obesity in American Indian/Alaska Native communities through community-proposed initiatives. GHWIC’s long-term goals are:

  • Increase purchasing of healthy foods
  • Increase physical activity, with an emphasis on walking
  • Increase breastfeeding
  • Reduce prevalence of commercial tobacco use
  • Reduce incidence of type 2 diabetes
  • Reduce prevalence of high blood pressure
  • Reduce prevalence of high blood cholesterol

 GHWIC awardees will address the aforementioned seven program aims by implementing a five-year project incorporating at least two prevention and control strategies; one of which must focus on strategy 1 or 2 and one of which must focus on strategy 3 or 4 targeting the following health priority strategies:

  1. Policy, system, and environmental change for obesity
  2. Policy, system, and environmental change for commercial tobacco use
  3. Community-clinical linkage change for type 2 diabetes
  4. Community-clinical linkage change for heart disease and stroke

Policy changes are changes made to rules, laws, or regulations, such as changing community park laws to allow for fruit trees. System changes are changes made to rules within an organization, such as screening and referring patients with or at risk for diabetes. Environmental changes are changes made to the physical environment, such as improving sidewalks, paths, and recreational areas. Community-clinical linkage changes are when community programs are linked to clinical services, such as when a clinic partners with its local YCMA to offer discounted memberships to hypertensive patients.

Awardees must address at least one strategy but may address up to all four strategies through the five-year grant period. The selected activities may be culturally adapted to meet the cultural and health needs of the American Indian/Alaska Native community impacted by the projects.

Component 2 Sub-Awards:

  • Bay Mills Indian Community
  • Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
  • Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians
  • Lower Sioux Indian Community
  • Menominee Indian Tribe
  • Native American Community Clinic
  • White Earth Nation

Other Partnerships:

  • Great Lakes Area Tribal Health Board
  • Public Health Law Center