The Native Center for Behavioral Health provides training and technical assistance services to the substance abuse prevention field, including professionals, paraprofessionals, organizations, and others in the prevention community who serve American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities.
Native Center activities and services are focused on developing and disseminating culturally appropriate tools and strategies needed to improve the capacity of prevention specialists to deliver effective, culturally informed, knowledge- and evidence-based practices to enhance the quality of substance abuse prevention interventions, trainings, and other prevention activities in AI/AN communities.
Our Purpose
To promote and facilitate healthier and holistic American Indian/Alaska Native communities by engaging and informing practitioners in culturally informed prevention and intervention with substance use disorders.
Our Approach
We use community-based participatory research methods to listen to AI/AN communities and prevention specialists to better understand and serve their needs.
Our Philosophy
We believe AI/AN communities have the strengths they need to best serve themselves. Culture IS prevention and must be trauma-informed to be successful. That means elevating the strengths and resilience of AI/AN communities and individuals while recognizing the long-term effects of historical, intergenerational, and individual trauma (such as Adverse Childhood Experiences, sexual assault, domestic abuse or dating violence, etc.).
Questions? Please contact:
Anne Helene Skinstad, PsyD, PhD
Director, Native Center for Behavioral Health
319-384-1481
Meg Schneider
Communications Manager
319-834-9649
meg-schneider@uiowa.edu
