TEC Projects

tec sitting bull

“Let us put our minds together and see what life we can make for our children.”

~ Chief Sitting Bull, Hunkpapa Lakota

Epi Core

  • Epi Core is a continuing 5-year program funded by the Indian Health Service with the goal of strengthening Tribes’ epidemiologic services through:
    • Data collection
    • Data and program evaluation
    • Health priorities identification
    • Health service needs recommendations
    • Health care delivery systems recommendations
    • Epidemiologic technical assistance provision to tribes and tribal organizations
    • Disease surveillance operations
  • Contact: Helen Tesfai, TEC Director

Tribal Epidemiology Center Public Health Infrastructure (TEC-PHI)

  • TEC-PHI is a 5-year capacity building project funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with the goal to strengthen the RMTEC through:
    • Public Health Trainings & Technical Assistance;
    • Targeted Data Expansion & Strategic Planning;
    • Indigenous Evaluation Methods; and
    • Strengthening RMTEC Communication & Outreach
  • Contact: Dyani Bingham, TECPHI Project Manager

Tribal College Nursing Collaboration

  • RMTEC has identified and hired Linda Azure as the Partnership Coordinator for the MSU Primary Care Nursing Grant. Since being hired, Linda has been hard at work:
    • Recruiting nursing graduates into Tribal and Indian Health service sites;
    • Mapping and analyzing primary care related clinical services in Tribal and Indian Health Service sites;
    • Interviewing new nursing graduates for any ideas for making their career in Rural Community Health a better transition; and
    • Assisting with the development of clinical site affiliations, as well as providing the sites with technical assistance (she has been contacting potential site personnel to set up training sites).
  • Contact: Deidhra Hill, TEC Coordinator

Injury Prevention

  • IHS 5-year cooperative agreement for injury prevention program development, implementation, evaluation, training and resource development, data dissemination, surveillance, applied epidemiologic studies, training, responses to public health emergencies, technical assistance, and disease control and prevention activities.
  • RMTEC is:
    • Developing a leading causes report for injury morbidity and mortality;
    • Providing TA (e.g., designing databases, analyzing data) for all Tribes in Montana and Wyoming; and
    • Reaching out to the Injury Prevention points of contact at each of the Matter of Balance (MoB) site and sending them resources that will help with Coach recruitment. For participation in the MoB program, each site needs at least (minimum) two individuals to volunteer as Coaches to conduct the MoB program in their community. The training session for Coaches will be provided by the Master Trainers and will take place over two days (four to six hours each day).
  • Contacts: Kalu Uma, Injury Prevention Epidemiologist & Elaine Cummins, Project Coordinator

Child Health Measures

  • Child Health Measures is currently in its 14th year of data collection. RMTEC continues to assist with data entry and analysis.
  • The project is being revamped and improvements are being made to the collection methods and surveys.
  • Two small grants are to be awarded to two Tribes that have participated in the project for the past ten years. The objective of the small grants is to encourage the use of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) traditional, cultural, and regional knowledge in developing, implementing, and/or supporting childhood overweight and obesity education, prevention, and management initiatives amongst Tribal communities.
  • Contact: Sam  Alquwayfili, Infectious Disease Epidemiologist

MSPI/DVPI Evaluation Assistance

  • The MSPI & DVPI Programs through IHS began in 2009. Their purpose is to improve capacity in tribal communities for programing that can:
    • Prevent and treat substance use (MSPI);
    • Prevent and support individuals struggling with suicidality (MSPI);
    • Identify and intervene in cases of domestic violence (DVPI); and
    • Support resilient and strong youth (MSPI Gen-I).
  • In the Billings Area, RMTEC provides evaluation support to all 14 funded MSPI & DVPI projects, including:
    • Assistance in stablishing baseline data related to their MSPI/DVPI funded projects;
    • Assistance with revising grantee plans for local data collection;
    • Assistance with monitoring trends on baseline data;
    • Tailored technical assistance, as funding permits; and
    • Provision of virtual site visits for tailored technical assistance for all funded projects.
  • Contact: Deidhra Hill, TEC Coordinator

Tribal Public Health Training Needs Assessment

  • Short survey created to learn more about current skills and areas of need for professional development for Tribal Health staff. The survey will gauge the skill level within public health domains and identify the areas of greatest need, so RMTEC can prioritize training offerings and guide future activities and collaborative efforts.
  • Contact: Dyani Bingham, TECHPHI Project Manager

Tribal Public Health Priorities Annual Survey

  • Annual survey to prioritize the health issues that are most important to Tribal communities throughout Montana & Wyoming. The results of this survey will guide future RMTEC projects and help RMTEC better serve Tribal people in Montana & Wyoming.
  • Contact: Dyani Bingham, TECHPHI Project Manager