On August 15, 2024, the National Institute of Health released an article through their newsroom that focuses on an NIH program to advance research led by Native American Communities on substance use and pain.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has launched a program that will support Native American communities to lead public health research to address overdose, substance use, and pain, including related factors such as mental health and wellness. Despite the inherent strengths in Tribal communities, and driven in part by social determinants of health, Native American communities face unique health disparities related to the opioid crisis. For instance, in recent years, overdose death rates have been highest among American Indian and Alaska Native people.
Totaling approximately $268 million over seven years, pending the availability of funds, the Native Collective Research Effort to Enhance Wellness (N CREW) Program will support research projects that are led directly by Tribes and organizations that serve Native American communities, and was established in direct response to priorities identified by Tribes and Native American communities.
The N CREW Program focuses on:
- Supporting research prioritized by Native communities, including research elevating and integrating Indigenous Knowledge and culture
- Enhancing capacity for research led by Tribes and Native American Serving Organizations by developing and providing novel, accessible, and culturally grounded technical assistance and training, resources, and tools
- Improving access to, and quality of, data on substance use, pain, and related factors to maximize the potential for use of these data in local decision-making.
The N CREW Program is led by the NIH’s NIDA, NINDS, and National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), with participation from numerous other NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices. The N CREW Program is funded through the NIH Helping to End Addiction Long-term Initiative (or NIH HEAL Initiative), which is jointly managed by NIDA and NINDS. For the purposes of the N CREW Program, Native Americans include American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians. Projects will be awarded on a rolling basis and publicly listed.
This new program is part of work to advance the Biden/Harris Administration’s Unity Agenda and the HHS Overdose Prevention Strategy(link is external).
The full article can be accessed by clicking here.
