Authors: National Institutes of Health (NIH) Tribal Health Research Office

Publication Year: 2019

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Keywords: Cultural Sensitivity and Appropriateness; Data Collection; Federal Health Care

Short Abstract: In November 2019, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) Tribal Health Research Office (THRO)—with the NIH National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Office of Tribal Affairs and Strategic Alliances (OTASA)—brought the biomedical research and traditional medicine communities together in a first-of-its-kind meeting: The 2019 Traditional Medicine Summit: Maintaining and Protecting Culture Through Healing.

Abstract: In November 2019, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) Tribal Health Research Office (THRO)—with the NIH National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Office of Tribal Affairs and Strategic Alliances (OTASA)—brought the biomedical research and traditional medicine communities together in a first-of-its-kind meeting: The 2019 Traditional Medicine Summit: Maintaining and Protecting Culture Through Healing. The Summit was a positive, supportive forum for 40 traditional medicine and Native health care practitioners, medicine men and women, and American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) researchers to discuss traditional healing practices and health services, and how biomedical research can support Native communities around these sacred methods. The 2.5-day event consisted of public sessions with presentations from NIH- and CDC funded researchers, a closed session for traditional medicine practitioners and invited guests, and a joint public session. Participants took turns talking and listening to identify approaches for respectful collaboration between traditional healers and health researchers. They also explored relationships between traditional medicine and health care services, and ways to connect younger generations of AI/AN people to traditional medicine, integrative health care, and academic research. These conversations created a foundation for the different groups to build on and work together to improve Native health now and in the future. This report provides background on the Summit and highlights discussions and themes that emerged from the public sessions. For additional information, please email throinfo@nih.gov.

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Source: https://dpcpsi.nih.gov/sites/default/files/NIH-THRO-2019-Traditional-Medicine-Summit-Report.pdf

Type of Resource: Summit Report