Office of Health Disparities Research

Addressing Health Disparities is Our Priority.

Native American Research Outreach

Native American Research Outreach (NARO) provides resources and assistance to tribal and urban Indian health leaders to address community priorities for health and well-being.

Contact:  Wesley O. Petersen, Ph.D.
507-266-2204

NAROThe Native American Research Outreach (NARO) aims to use Mayo Clinic’s research and clinical experience to address the Upper Midwestern region’s tribal and urban Indian health priorities to improve health and well-being. To achieve this, NARO builds collaborative, mutually beneficial research and education relationships among tribal and urban Indian health leaders, Native research organizations, and Mayo Clinic investigators and educators.

NARO seeks nonbinding, nonexclusive partnerships between all of the region’s Native communities and the Mayo Clinic Office Health Disparities Research (OHDR). The OHDR through NARO has signed memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with multiple tribes, Native health organizations and Native research entities.

The mission of Native American Research Outreach (NARO) is to use Mayo Clinic’s research and clinical experience to address the Upper Midwestern region’s tribal and urban Indian health priorities to improve health and well-being. To achieve this, NARO builds collaborative, mutually beneficial research and education relationships among tribal and urban Indian health leaders, Native research organizations, and Mayo Clinic investigators and educators. Native American Research Outreach (NARO) Brochure (Ojibwe Imagery) and Native American Research Outreach (NARO) Brochure (Dakota-Lakota Imagery).

To fulfill this mission, NARO is seeking nonbinding, nonexclusive partnerships between all of the region’s Native communities and the Mayo Clinic Office Health Disparities Research. The Office of Health Disparities Research through NARO currently has signed partnerships or agreements in principle with seven tribes and Native research organizations.

Signed partnerships:

Red Lake Nation
Lower Sioux Indian Community
White Earth Nation
Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
American Indian Cancer Foundation
Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council (Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Epidemiology Center)

Collaborative health disparities research activities

Projects Facilitated by NARO

 

  • American Cancer Society project to identify theoretical health mediators that differentiate mammographic screening participation of adherent and non-adherent women. Principal investigator: Wesley Petersen, Ph.D.
  • Project to study follow-up testing patterns for men who have elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels. Principal investigator: Jon Tilburt, M.D.
  • “No Squeeze Can Defeat Me: Mammograms for Life” study funded through the Eliminating Health Disparities Initiative of Minnesota Department of Health: uses interventions based on findings from a previous American Cancer Society project to improve mammographic screening in American Indian women who are not adherent with screening guidelines. Principal investigator: Wesley Petersen, Ph.D.
  • Potential collaborations: Projects on human papillomavirus (HPV) and on attitudes toward genetic testing. Principal investigator: Carmen Radecki-Breitkopf, Ph.D.
  • CBPR proposal to improve colorectal cancer screening. Principal investigator: Kenneth Wang, M.D., Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

More Information

OHDR's Native American Interest Group (NAIG) sponsors a monthly presentation series featuring a broad range of speakers on Indian health topics. Meetings are open to the public and attended in person and remotely by a national audience that includes the Indian Health Service and the Veterans Administration.

Native American Research Outreach

Native American Research Outreach Conference Successfully Sparks Dialogue

Dr. VainioThe DoubleTree Hotel in Rochester was the site of the Native American Research Outreach program's 2018 tribal health conference entitled, "A-Path-Toward-Better-Health-for-Bemidji-Area-American-Indians-Beginning-Conversations," on October 15 and 16, 2017.  Native American populations face some of the deepest health disparities in the U.S. According to the Indian Health Service, American Indians and Alaska Natives are more likely than others to die from liver disease, diabetes, suicide, chronic lower respiratory disease and many other conditions. Poverty, cultural differences and geographic isolation are frequently cited as barriers to receiving quality care.  Native American health leaders and Mayo Clinic staff came together to begin a conversation to address these issues, with the Conference providing an opportunity for deep cultural interchange and frank dialogue about health needs of Native Americans, as well as broad exchange of information and resources.

Six Northern Plains tribes attended, representing eight tribal departments and programs. They were joined by representatives of 16 Mayo Clinic departments and divisions, and three Native American organizations that work with tribes.  According to NARO director, Wesley Petersen, PhD, the conference was a forum for "two groups that don't often have an opportunity to listen to each other." He says becoming a Mayo patient often is not straightforward for Native Americans, regardless of where they live. The process for obtaining a referral from tribal health organizations is complicated, and geographical distance creates additional obstacles. Moreover, mistrust stemming from historical interaction with medical institutions runs deep.

Robert Brown, Jr., MD, medical director of Mayo Clinic's Values Council, introduced key themes and perspectives related to Mayo's history, values and culture.  One theme that emerged during the conference is that trauma from historical events, and loss of culture and identity, contribute to health issues and carry from one generation to the next.  Arne Vainio, MD, Fond du Lac Human Services, {pictured, above} shared his family's story of forced acculturation as an example of historical trauma that "spills from one generation to the next." Dr. Vainio's grandfather, like tens of thousands of Native American youth, was taken from his family and sent to a federal boarding school designed to assimilate him into the dominant culture. He described how the intergenerational trauma from loss of cultural practices, dislocations, and many instances of violence and harm contribute significantly to health issues in Native American communities.

For over a decade, Dr. Petersen and his team have laid the groundwork for the dialogue by building relationships with tribal health leaders. His team facilitated memoranda of understanding agreements with several tribes and tribal organizations, smoothing the path to communication and collaboration within tribal communities and governance structures.  During the conference, a series of conversations and presentations from Mayo Clinic and Native American speakers focused around nine health priority areas: chronic diseases, substance abuse, mental health, dental issues, telemedicine, preventive services, improved communication with health care organizations, and health policy.  The conversations led to identifying areas of common ground, and noted differences in experience, policy and outcomes.

Representatives of tribal communities and Mayo Clinic will create an advisory board to set priorities and guide future research, clinical and educational collaborations using a community-based, participatory approach.  According to Dr. Petersen, success will require immediate effort and long-term commitment.  "The tribal members saw the potential of what could be possible by working with Mayo, and they got to meet some people who are very sincere in working with them," he says. "Mayo Clinic is not an abstraction anymore. The tribes now have a new entrée to Mayo Clinic across multiple departments."

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