Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board: Indian Leadership for Indian Health

Media Technologies Supporting Health Education

Media technologies offer new avenues for reaching community members with information on a variety of health topics. This page explores some of these tools, and their possible application for Tribal health education.

Media Technologies Include:

  • Websites
  • Social Networking Sites (like MySpace or Facebook)
  • Online Videos
  • Blogs and micro-blogs
  • Podcasts

More health examples can be found on the CDC’s social media page: http://www.cdc.gov/SocialMedia/

Project Red Talon’s New Text Message Service
The text messaging service will send out periodic health tips, provide subscribers with updates on related contests and social service opportunities, and challenge youth to take a more active role in their personal health and wellbeing. Text the word TALON to 24587 or:

Enter Your Mobile Number:







Powered by: Mozeo.com

It’s Your Game (IYG)...Keep it Real
The IYG Adaptation Project is a multi-site research endeavor that will be carried out in partnership with the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Intertribal Council of Arizona, Indian Health Service, the Bureau of Indian Education, Tribal Boys and Girls Clubs, University of Texas Prevention Research Center, and Oregon Health and Sciences University. Project partners will work with local Tribes to culturally adapt the effective Internet-based HIV, STI, and pregnancy prevention program “It’s Your Game (IYG) - Keep It Real” for AI/AN youth 12-14 years old. 
Do You Know Youth Who Are…
Between 12 and 14 years old?  An American Indian living in WA, OR, or ID?
If you answered YES to both of these questions...click here to learn more about how to sign-up !

Use of Media Technologies by Native American Teens and Young Adults:Evaluating their Utility for Designing Culturally-Appropriate Sexual Health Interventions Targeting Native Youth in the Pacific Northwest

Tribal Technology Use
In 2009, Project Red Talon collected surveys from over 400 Native youth (ages 13-21 years) living in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, to better understand how they use media technologies (like the Internet, social networking sites, cell phones and text messaging). Project Red Talon is now using this information to develop technology-based health resources for Native youth in the region.

Here is a link to the Youth Media Survey (.pdf) we used. Please let us know if you’d like to use it (we’d recommend a few slight changes)

Here is a link to our Regional Data Report (.pdf)
In 2009, Native Public Media surveyed 196 AI/AN adults (20-75 years-old), from over 120 tribes living in 28 states at the National Congress of American Indians Annual Conference and at the National Indian Gaming Conference, both held in Phoenix, Arizona. Their full report can be downloaded from: http://www.nativepublicmedia.org

Resources for Tribal Health Advocates

Media technologies can be used to obtain health information, disseminate health information, and access professional training.

Ideas to consider:
1. Find age-appropriate lesson plans
2. Access fact sheets, videos, and PowerPoint slides
3. Place widgets, buttons, or badges on your health page
4. Send health information to teens and young adults in your community using eCards, MySpace, Facebook, or Twitter
5. Access online training and webcasts for professional development

Here are a few examples of what’s available online:

  • Social Media at CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/SocialMedia
  • CDC uses social media to disseminate credible, science-based health information. Visit their site to access social media tools and best practices, blogs and micro-blogs (Twitter), buttons and badges, eCards, eGames, and much more.

  • Social Media at Planned Parenthood: http://www.plannedparenthood.org/all-access/partners/
  • Post sexual health widgets on your website, including: birth control selection tools, a STD/HIV testing tool, and a locator tool for planned parenthood clinics.

  • STD/HIV Testing Search Box for American Indians/Alaskan Natives: http://www.cdcnpin.org/stdawareness/tools.htm

  • Give visitors to your Website instant access to a list of their nearest STD/HIV testing locations without leaving your site. Put the widget on your site and when a ZIP code is entered, it will return the nearest testing locations from the extensive database available at http://www.findSTDtest.org, a national online tool for locating local STD and HIV testing centers by ZIP code. A widget is an online program that provides customized information and can be easily added to your Web site. It automatically updates, so it requires no maintenance by you.

  • No Place Like Home For Sex Education: http://www.noplacelikehome.org/nativeamerican.php
  • Obtain age-appropriate sexual health information and fact sheets with this online tool. The No Place Like Home site provides practical information for talking to Native children about sex, starting at age 3 and going through grade 12.

  • Planned Parenthood: http://www.plannedparenthood.org
  • This website covers a wide variety of sexual health topics, including birth control, abortion, STDs, HIV, safer sex, pregnancy, emergency contraception. The site contains multimedia tools and resources for parents and educators, including activities and lesson plans, videos, fact sheets and brochures.

  • National Network of STD/HIV Prevention Training Centers: http://depts.washington.edu/nnptc/online_training/index.html
  • This site contains STD/HIV training resources and tools for health educators.  Visit their site to access: Online STD/HIV Continuing Education Opportunities, Webcasts, Online case studies, Treatment and Prevention tools, Teaching Tools and Curricula, STD/HIV Image Repository, and Clinical Slides. 

  • Advocates for Youth: http://www.advocatesforyouth.org
  • Visit their site to access: Lesson plans for the classroom, Parent’s sex ed resource center, Online professional development workshops, Electronic Public Service Announcements (ePSA’s), Youth and news blogs, Podcasts, and Featured videos.

Resources for Tribal Teens and Young Adults

Media technologies like the Internet, social networking sites, videos, and cell phones can be used to reach teens and young adults in ways that are accessible and familiar to them. These technologies can reach large numbers of youth, and can be used to communicate sexual health messages in an educational, entertaining, and private way.

Ideas to consider:
1. Sex Ed Internet Scavenger Hunt—Have students brainstorm their sexual health questions on anonymous index cards. Select appropriate questions, and then have the students search the following websites for accurate answers.
2. Send Sexual Health E-cards to young adults in your life.
3. Have a Video Contest—Ask students to create and post their own YouTube videos that promote abstinence, safe sex, condom use, or STD testing. Host a red carpet showing.
4. Host a Movie Night—Watch and discuss some of the STD/HIV/Sexuality videos included in this guide. What elements were good? Bad? Funny? Accurate? Wrong? What did you learn? What questions remain?
5. Use mobile mediums (cell, email, text) to notify clients about lab results or remind them about scheduled appointments.

Here are a few examples of what’s available online for teens and young adults: