White Mountain Apache Tribe - Native American Research Centers for Health
Current Research Programs
Mother Daughter
The White Mountain Apache tribe is working with long-time tribal partners, Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health to develop, pilot and evaluate a program to promote girls’ empowerment, health and intergenerational well-being for Native peoples.
Engaging Apache girls and their mothers or primary female caregivers, the “Mother Daughter” program harnesses matrilineal cultural resources and positive mother-daughter/female caregiver relationships to prevent young girls’ substance use and risky behaviors, while promoting positive relationships, cultural identity and educational aspirations.
My Pathway to Healing
Addresses the feasibility and acceptability of mental health intervention delivered by community mental health workers for adults with a history of adverse childhood experiences and present trauma-related distress. The My Pathway to Healing project aims to address the meaning and impact of adverse childhood experiences, the intervention techniques that help address these experiences, and to train and mentor Native American junior investigators in the techniques of intervention.
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Protecting our Future Generation
Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health has been working in partnership with the White Mountain Apache Tribe for over 10 years to understand and address the challenges Apache youth and young adults face in accessing sexual health care. Barriers identified through our NARCH partnership include: 1) individuals not knowing they are at risk for STDs; and 2) concerns about completing STD screening at Indian Health Service or other clinics.
The Protecting Our Future Generation NARCH 9 project takes a strength-based approach to help empower Apache youth and young adults in their own sexual health care. This research study is evaluating a tablet-based risk quiz with personalized messaging to help reduce risk for STDs. The project also offers at-home self-administered STD screening, a method of screening our NARCH 5 partnership demonstrated is highly acceptable and preferred by Apache youth.
