Native American Community Health Program

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Seva NACH Program Adaptation
Looking closer at our new methods

null After more than 25 years supporting Native American Community Health Projects, Seva has reflected on community input and strategically adapted our method of support.

We listened! As a result of a comprehensive and thoughtful Program Review process in 2009, we are putting many of the major lessons directly into action:

What we heard: Keep focusing on grassroots organizations, but partner differently
We found that our grant start-up support of grassroots health projects often leads to big impact. We also discovered that when we partner long-term and build capacity, it always does. Grants are important, but so are trainings and other forms of support.

What we are doing: Our new program goal targets building capacity and engaging in multi-year partnerships to help community health strategies become sustainable. Seva's model of support to reach this goal is now an integrated approach of resource-based partnerships (i.e. grants), technical assistance, and knowledge-sharing. Learn more >

What we heard: Help make Native wellness strategies measurable
Native community wellness strategies are impactful, but too often indigenous and Western health perspectives are seen as incompatible. There is a struggle to have 'evidence-based' indicators of success.

What we are doing: With indigenous evaluation specialists at Bowman Performance Consulting and the full participation of our program partners, we are co-creating measurement tools that bridge this gap. More details will be posted soon.

		Diabetes Wellness Program Native American communities are struggling with an epidemic of type 2 diabetes, with mortality rates four times higher than the national average. Seva's Diabetes Wellness Program has brought unique solutions that create a synergy between modern medicine and traditional forms of healing. The core of the program is the Diabetes Talking Circle, a highly effective training that helps Native people develop self-managed strategies for diabetes prevention and treatment. The program also supports community garden projects which are helping to reintroduce nutritious, traditional Native foods.

Program Review: Reflections and lessons from our first 25 years
Thank you to the nearly 50 organizations that we spoke to and who shared their vision for the future with us, as part of our in-depth Native American Program Review. Seva is pleased to share the findings.