Category: THHN Partner Profiles
All Funding Opportunities General Newsletters THHN Partner Profiles Trainings UpdatesJuly 5, 2016 - THHN Partner Profiles
Tribal Healthy Homes Network Partner Profile – AJ Salkoski, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium
How does ANTHC assist tribes in dealing with smoke episodes?
We don’t assist directly. What we do, is we help the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) modify documents about safety when wildfires are in the area and when to evacuate. We don’t actually go out and monitor in cases of wildfires and we don’t set regulations about when people should evacuate, but we helped develop the guidelines to help tribes make their own decisions.
Last year was the first year that our Environmental Health office was involved. In our Tribal Air program, we try to align our priorities with the priorities of the tribes we are serving each year. Last year, we had over 500 million acres burn in Alaska and wildfires jumped up pretty high on the list so we became more involved.
This year we didn’t do anything to modify the guidelines but we did send out a survey and I think we’ve now received 60-70 responses from folks across the state about what resources they have in cases of wildfires. If they have a “clean room” or a safe haven for residents, especially elders and vulnerable populations, they are asked to go there if there is smoke in the area.
What messages would ANTHC like to get out to tribes about preparing for this year’s wildfire season?
If there is smoke in the area, then we need to take measures to try and limit our exposures to it. And, if the fires are getting close to a community, to evacuate when people say to evacuate and not just try to ride it out, thereby putting people in danger.
We are specifically focusing on the role of ventilation as a way to protect residents when they are indoors. Do you have specific measures you recommend around ventilation?
I always say we want to ventilate as much as we can. If we’re not getting fresh air in the house, then everything that we’re doing is staying in the house. In the same way that we have lungs for our body to help bring in fresh air and get rid of the bad air, we want to use our ventilation systems to bring in fresh air to the house and get rid of the bad air.
In the case of wildfires, it’s a little bit trickier. We want to make sure that if we are bringing new air into the house that it is clean fresh air and we’re not bringing in smoky air and contaminating the house and over exposing ourselves. Which goes back to what we were saying about making sure that there’s a “clean room” available…a place that people can go where they can get clean fresh air.
Do you have specific resources you want tribes to have in hand?
I think that tribes should have an emergency preparedness plan. That means having a plan in place about what to do if people are going to stay in the community or if the smoke gets too close and how they are going to evacuate.
July 5, 2016 - THHN Partner Profiles
Tribal Healthy Homes Network Partner Profile – Celeste Davis, Indian Health Service
Noteworthy Asthma Strategies from our Partners at Indian Health Service: Interview with Celeste Davis, Director, Division of Environmental Health Services / Emergency Management Coordinator, U.S. DHHS /Indian Health Service-Portland Area
THHN: From your perspective with Indian Health Service, what is a good starting point for tribes planning environmental health work?
Celeste Davis: “A fundamental question tribes can ask is: what programs do we consider part of our public health authority? Which programs are responsible for public health matters as part of their official mandate? This question can be a launching pad for all kinds of public health conversations. Is it just the clinic? Some tribes may see the public health authority also including air quality and environmental programs, but perhaps not housing. Broadening public health infrastructure will help a tribe build partnerships for environmental health work.”
How might tribal air or housing staff partner with their clinic to target healthy home activities?
“There are targeted opportunities when a case-by-case referral process is in place at the clinic. An example of this would be when a new case of asthma is seen, the health care provider can say, let’s refer this patient for environmental health services. The referral could be to trained air staff for a home health assessment, or even for green cleaning supplies handed out by the clinic to the patient’s family.
Other referral partners could be pharmacists, or public health nurses. There are many ways a case-by-case referral approach can look to target healthy home activities.”
What is key to making a referral process work?
“To make any referral process work the clinician has to buy-in. How do you get buy-in? Sometimes education works alone, but the next step is making an internal policy at the clinic.”
Without a formal referral program, or access to health data, is there any way an air quality or housing person can reach asthma patients who most need a home assessment?
“I would suggest they use self-identified (homeowner) data. They could reach out via survey or questionnaire to the public if they had the resources to respond to each individual. It may not be clinically confirmed data, but this type of data is used quite often in public health.”
Related to housing programs, we’ve heard of the concept of health-based prioritization. In theory, this would mean that the kids who need it most (ie with uncontrolled asthma) have repair work done to their house first or before a house where there are no patients with asthma. Yet in our research we haven’t found any formal method for doing this. What are your thoughts?
“If the Housing Authority does not have discrete criteria for prioritizing where they commit resources for existing housing rehabilitation and repairs, they risk being viewed as biased. Using health conditions of occupants as part of the criteria helps the Housing Authority as well as the health of the community.”
July 5, 2016 - THHN Partner Profiles
Tribal Healthy Homes Network Partner Profile – Tony Basabe, Swinomish Air Quality Program
Noteworthy Asthma Efforts in a Tribal Air Program: Interview with Tony Basabe, Air Quality Analyst, Swinomish Indian Tribal Community
THHN: You’ve said that your goal is to lead a health-based tribal air program. What does this mean in practice?
Tony: “I look at asthma trends in our community and use that data as one way to monitor indoor air quality. If I see that there is an uptick in asthma rates, then I start looking around for clues as to what the causes may be. We partner with our health clinic to get this data, which has been important to support our work. For example, during the years we implemented a woodstove change out program, I saw the asthma rates decline. Currently I’m working with our clinic to try and capture inhaler use rates to further identify asthma trends that potentially could be addressed.”
Tell us about your home assessment program. How does your referral process work?
“I perform home IAQ assessments and also assess public buildings like our daycare. The referrals come multiple ways – an occupant can ask directly; the housing authority will call me in when needed; and sometimes our health clinic will encourage a patient to contact me if they are a new case of asthma or a repeated case. I try to respond quickly to these calls because I know that every day, exposure to an asthma trigger only makes things worse.
If I find a structural issue during a home assessment, I go to housing immediately if appropriate and try to turn it into a work order. If I am helping a homeowner, I try to recommend a low-cost way to fix the problem.
A big key to success in solving IAQ issues is getting down and dirty – you have to look into contaminants in crawl spaces and attics. Often, you find hidden things that may be affecting resident health. In my experience about half of the problems are in crawl spaces and attics.”
What advice would you share with other tribal staff incorporating healthy home activities into their work?
“When starting out, as opposed to identifying a specific target or trigger – spend some time getting to know your housing stock. This is paramount – every tribe will have unique circumstances that impact the indoor environment. It could be water issues due to the lay of the land, the age of the buildings, construction problems, or woodstove situations. Knowing what you’re dealing with lets you know where to focus.”
Can you give a specific example of how knowing the housing stock has informed your IAQ work?
“We found out we had a group of homes built in the 90s and those bathroom fans were never vented properly to the exterior. This unfortunately produced a lot of mold in our attics. Once we knew this was an issue we could coordinate the effort to change the fan venting, address the mold, and improve the air quality in those homes.”
What kind of outreach does your program do?
“We take a multi-pronged approach to outreach. We’ve made Earth Day an annual event – bringing tribal members together at a community lunch and giving out green cleaning kits. We publish articles in our tribal newspaper, for example reminding folks we can do free home assessments, or that it’s time to start thinking about safe wood-burning ahead of the burn season. I also teach college level indoor air quality courses to the community, as well as train our housing authority, and public works employees.”
How do you know if the outreach is working?
“It’s important to have patience with this work – you have to wait till the community takes the information as their own. Over time you’ll hear the community giving advice: “Mom don’t hang that blanket against the window, it gets wet”. Maybe you only get a few hits every time you do a project, but those few hits grow over time and you can really make an impact.”
July 5, 2016 - THHN Partner Profiles
Tribal Healthy Homes Network Partner Profile – Gary Olson, EPA
Gary Olson talks about EPA’s new air quality equipment loan program.
THHN: What do you want to share with tribes that could be of value for their healthy home work?
Gary: We have a new air quality equipment loan program that allows tribes in WA, OR, and ID to investigate air quality concerns in their communities. The portable equipment can measure indoor and outdoor air pollutants including carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, PM2.5, VOCs, and humidity. There is no cost to tribes, so it’s a great way for them to try these monitors without using any grant money.
How does the equipment loan program work?
We try to make the loan process simple and effective. The first step is training – we will go to a reservation and train on equipment capabilities with hands-on monitoring. We help tribes develop sampling plans to ensure their project makes sense for the equipment we have to offer. One thing to note is that our equipment cannot be used for enforcement work – only investigative projects.
What are some examples of projects using your equipment?
Tribes can use our equipment to gather data to better understand complaints about health effects from air issues like odors, and then evaluate when to take action. During wildfire season, for example, our equipment could be used to measure indoor PM and gases in homes or schools during a wildfire episode. Projects that compare “before and after” air samples are another great way to use the equipment. One example would be taking air samples inside a home before and after a wood stove change out. So far we’ve mostly worked with tribal air staff in the loan program but we encourage all tribal departments to take advantage of this program.
What’s one thing that people would be surprised to know about you?
I enjoy writing poetry…
It may not be what it seems
As clean and fresh as an innocent’s dreams
The air we breathe could hold something in store
That can only be detected by a monitor
To learn more, contact Gary Olson: olson.gary@epa.gov, 206-553-0977
June 17, 2016 - THHN Partner Profiles
Tribal Healthy Homes Network Partner Profile – Doug Sternback, Makah Tribe Woodshed Program
Doug Sternback, air quality specialist with the Makah Tribe spoke with us about their woodshed program.
THHN: When did the woodshed program begin, and how many tribal households have you reached?
Doug: We build and deliver freestanding woodsheds to tribal elders and seniors relying on wood heat in our community. We started this program in 2009, and so far 55 woodsheds have been distributed. Our current goal is to produce a minimum of 5 woodsheds per year and with any luck up to 15 per year. The program has been a big success and our hope is to continue so we can reach more households, with funding locally or otherwise.
Tell us about the nuts and bolts of the program (no pun intended):
We’ve improved the materials and process over the years to make the woodshed design efficient and economical -‐ the materials cost about $250 per shed. The construction crews over the past few years consisted of summer interns, summer youth, fisheries staff, and the Makah air quality specialist. We’ve become very efficient builders – believe it or not, in 55 minutes we can put together a wood shed. The actual delivery can take longer than the build process! We advertise at the Senior Center when the sheds are ready, and hold a drawing there to give away the new woodsheds before burn season.
What are some of the benefits you see from this program?
Prior to getting a woodshed, these households were struggling to keep dry wood. Either the wood stack was uncovered, or maybe had a tarp cover that is difficult to keep in place. In some cases, residents were storing wood right alongside the home which can lead to pest and mold problems. So you can see that a wood shed offers many benefits ranging from cleaner air quality and better heat, to avoiding pests.
What’s one thing that people would be surprised to know about you?
As of 3 years ago I knew absolutely nothing about air quality -‐ my background is actually in water quality, but to me these two mesh together well.
To learn more, contact Doug Sternback: (360) 645-3273, doug.sternback@makah.com
A diagram and materials list of the Makah modular wood shed can be found here: