A program designed to bolster the mid-level medical workforce in Indian Country is getting a $2.3 million boost to bring it to the lower 48.
Community health aides are providers who bridge gaps in communities where healthcare access is limited. According to the IHS website, these include conducting health assessments and screenings, providing preventive care and education; managing chronic disease and coordinating care; administering first aid and emergency care; and supporting maternal and child health initiatives.
The Indian Health Service (IHS) is awarding the funds over three years to four Tribes and Tribal grant organizations to expand the Community Health Aide Program (CHAP) to the contiguous 48 states.
CHAP expands access to high-quality, community-based care through a multidisciplinary workforce of mid-level behavioral, community, and dental health professionals working alongside licensed providers in Tribal communities.
“Our Tribal communities know our needs, and we know the people who can help meet them,” IHS Director Mark Cruz said in a press release. CHAP allows us to invest in our local leaders, create new pathways into the health professions, and give Tribes the flexibility to build programs around our own cultures and priorities. That means more opportunity for Tribal members and better access to care close to home.”
Four Tribes and Tribal organizations will receive the funds to plan and implement a community health aid program. Recipients can tailor CHAP to the needs of their communities in primary, behavioral, and oral health.
CHAP was launched in Alaska in the 1960s to address the tuberculosis epidemic, high infant mortality, and high rate of injuries in the state’s most rural areas. A 2012 evaluation of the IHS National Patient Information Reporting System shows that since the program’s inception, Alaska Native communities have seen lower infant mortality, longer life expectancy, and dramatically lower rates of tuberculosis.
The IHS began consulting with Tribes on expanding CHAP in 2016 and formed the CHAP Tribal Advisory Group (TAG) to advise the IHS director. The National CHAP Board, a federal board that serves under the authority of the IHS director, was established in 2024, sunsetting CHAP TAG and moving to CHAP implementation in the lower 48 states.
Recipients include the California Rural Indian Health Board, Inc., Cherokee Nation, Fort Peck and Assiniboine & Sioux Tribes, and Indian Health Council, Inc.
