Loretta Heuer, professor in the School of Nursing, has been invited to serve on the advisory committee for the evaluation of Tribal Health Opportunity Grants.
The program is coordinated by the Administration for Children and Families within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It provides temporary assistance for those in need and low-income individuals to gain an opportunity for education and training in health care fields that are expected to experience labor shortages or that will be in high demand.
The program created in 2010 previously awarded grants to 32 organizations, including five tribal organizations. Another round of grants was awarded in 2014. Comprehensive evaluation of the 32 demonstration projects will occur, gauging their impact and outcomes.
NORC at the University of Chicago is leading the evaluation of the five tribal grantees in the program. The advisory committee that Heuer will participate in is comprised of experts in topics such as conducting research in tribal communities, health care workforce development, training for low-income populations, and career pathways programs.
The committee will help shape the design of the evaluation, interpret findings, review evaluation products and assist in product dissemination. An evaluation team will consult with the committee and the tribal grantees throughout the evaluation to ensure the evaluation is methodologically sound and culturally grounded.
This is NDSU’s second collaboration with NORC at the University of Chicago Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis. Heuer chairs the interdisciplinary Midwest Clinicians Research Committee that collaborates with the University of Chicago in an effort to improve the care provided in federally-funded health centers through quality research efforts. This collaboration enables researchers and practitioners to better understand the quality of care provided to the patients, while learning the perceived barriers to giving optimum care.
Heuer, a Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellow Alumnus, also has served to coordinate state conferences over the past four years to bring together tribal leaders, health care practitioners and others focused on American Indian nursing.
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