At the American Indian Cancer Foundation (AICAF), our Prevention & Policy Program is dedicated to engaging, educating, and empowering American Indian and Alaska Native (Al/AN) communities to adopt healthy lifestyle practices that can significantly reduce cancer risks in Indian Country. We work closely with tribes and tribal organizations to support the implementation of resolutions and policies that promote these practices.
AICAF utilizes culturally appropriate resources to drive Policy, Systems, and Environmental (PSE) change within communities, focusing on key areas such as tobacco cessation, healthy eating, and physical activity.
Our team provides training and technical assistance to build capacity on many topics including: Tribal Policy, Systems, Environmental (PSE) Change, Strategies for Identifying Health Priorities, Community Engagement, Coalition Building, Action Planning, and Tribal Policy Development and Assistance.
The Health Equity team leads program strategies that inform, support, and strengthen tribal partners through the development of health equity programs and services to improve cancer outcomes across Indigenous communities.
AICAF’s work is guided by our cultures and teachings, which include our sacred traditional tobacco, which is embedded into all of our programs and projects. We acknowledge and honor that traditional tobacco is a gift from Creator, and many communities use it in a traditional way.
Mainstream evidence-based commercial tobacco control interventions often do not produce the same results for Indigenous people. Comprehensive strategies rooted in knowledge of customs, cultural traditions, and ways of knowing are proving to be promising practices for elevating the health of American Indian people. AICAF works with advocates across Indian Country to restore traditional tobacco practices, to reduce commercial tobacco abuse like cigarette smoking, and to prevent secondhand smoke exposure.
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Policy, Systems, and Environmental (PSE) change is a framework for creating positive, sustainable community health outcomes and supports culturally-specific health priorities. PSE change relates to a universal Indigenous worldview by examining how different policies, systems and environments contribute to vibrant Native communities throughout history.
What impacts our health?
Prevention of many cancers is achievable through the practice of healthy lifestyle choices —avoiding commercial tobacco, drinking alcohol in moderation or not at all, maintaining a healthy body weight and exercising regularly. However, behavioral change is not the only factor to consider on this healing journey. The places we live can be determinants of how we learn, work, exercise, and eat; influences within our environments are what determine if a person, family or community is healthy. Policy, Systems, and Environmental (PSE) change strategies present solutions to achieve positive health outcomes in Indian Country.
Culture is prevention: we have the solutions to eliminate cancer
AICAF provides technical assistance and support to communities and Native organizations in developing PSE change to promote health equity, cancer prevention, and healthy norms in Indian Country. Our team focuses on tobacco, healthy eating, and physical activity, working in partnership with Native communities and organizations to engage, empower, and educate communities for action and innovation.
The framework we utilize is based on a Health in All Policies approach (HiAP). Prevention & Policy staff have been authentically engaging several tribes and organizations to identify community readiness and action for tribal PSE initiatives through all phases from development, enactment, and into governance and enforcement.
For more information on PSE change or to get involved, contact prevention@aicaf.org.
The foods we consume play a crucial role in our overall health. AICAF’s Healthy Native Foods initiatives concentrate on utilizing traditional ways of eating to improve health outcomes within our communities. By reclaiming our relationship with minimally processed, nutrient-dense, and culturally celebrated foods, we aim to eliminate cancer risks across our communities.
Through initiatives like Healthy Native Foods, we highlight the importance of traditional foods, healthy diets, and cultural practices for overall health and wellness. Our work includes identifying food advocates, creating networks, and fostering knowledge sharing to advance this critical mission in Indian Country.
For more information about technical assistance or to get involved in our program, please contact prevention@aicaf.org.
