Katherine (Kait) Hirchak, PhD, MPH, an assistant professor in the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine Department of Community and Behavioral Health, was awarded $100,500 by the Eastern Shoshone Tribe and National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop culturally-based strategies to address opioid and other substance use.
The project, titled “Our Healing Journey: A Cultural and Traditional Response to the Opioid Epidemic,” is part of a long-term NIH commitment to partner with American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities on initiatives to address substance use, pain, and well-being.
“Including Indigenous and Western evaluation and research methods that are responsive to community priorities is important to improving total health,” Hirchak said. “Identifying successful implementation strategies may also offer a process template that practitioners and other AI/AN communities can use to reduce opioid-related fatal and non-fatal poisonings, increase favorable substance use treatment outcomes, address chronic pain and increase holistic well-being. It is a leading-edge approach with the potential to make a broader positive public health impact among other AI/AN communities.”
The team will spend two years enhancing research capacity and infrastructure within the Eastern Shoshone community, offering a menu of holistic options to address health priorities. The project will be among the first to examine how traditional Indigenous medicines, complementary medicine, and Western evidence-based strategies on substance use, pain management, sleep, and well-being can be combined to create community-driven strategies to address the opioid crisis.
The study is a collaboration between WSU researchers, the Eastern Shoshone Doya Natsu (Mountain Medicine) Healing Center, and Allyson Kelley & Associates Inc. Doya Natsu Healing Center Executive Director Kellie Webb is nationally recognized for implementing culturally grounded and innovative strategies to address opioid and other substance misuse, pain management, harm reduction, and well-living. The team at Doya Natsu Healing Center are also experienced community researchers with an impressive track-record for applying culturally-based approaches, Hirchak noted.
Before pursuing her graduate training, Kait Hirchak, a descendant of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe, worked with Kellie Webb in a partnership spanning nearly 15 years. Allyson Kelley & Associates are also long-time partners of Doya Natsu Healing Center with a focus on evaluation.
“When the funding announcement was made in 2023, it was a natural opportunity for the teams to come together to build upon and expand the exciting approach to enhancing holistic health at Doya Natsu Healing Center,” Hirchak said.