Urban Indian Health Institute

On April 27, 2007, the Urban Indian Health Institute’s Advisory Council convened for their annual meeting. The Advisory Council discussed infrastructure, the projects, and future directions. The thirteen member Council has two new members: Susan Barkan, an epidemiologist with Public Health Seattle and King County as well as Tim Feetham, a data analysis consultant who has served as a Senior Research Analyst for the Data Warehousing Institute and continues to write for them on a regular basis.

The Advisory Council meeting focused on three issues regarding the Urban Indian Health Institute’s future: the direction of research, place within the urban American Indian/Alaska Native health network, and the importance of creating quality partnerships. Foremost on the agenda, was a discussion that the UIHI is not primarily a research organization. Included in this was the decision that the Urban Indian Health Institute ought to pursue work on a standardized data system for urban Indian health organizations as well as pursue concrete partnerships on a larger scale.            

Advisory Council members were enthusiastic about the spread of “preventative” health messages to partners and collaborators. They called for increased awareness of preventative health messages both internally and externally. Finally, the Advisory Council urged staff to expand their current project prioritization, supplementing macro-decisions with protocols on a micro-decision level. As with past years, the Council urged the UIHI to focus on a chosen agenda and pursue work within that area.