Seneca Nation Health Department

Current estimates from the Seneca Nation Health Department, a nonprofit public health organization that maintains a federal contract with the Indian Health Service, show that 15% of its patient population has been diagnosed with diabetes. Over the past decade, the Seneca Nation Health Department has maintained the Indian Health Service Diabetes Core Program, and for the past three years, it has implemented the Indian Health Service Special Diabetes Prevention Initiative. This project was funded under NYHealth’s 2007 Setting the Standard: Advancing Best Practices in Diabetes Management request for proposals.

The Seneca Nation Health Department believes that together, these programs have been successful for the individuals who use them; however, the programs have not been utilized by the community at large, as community members continue to develop diabetes. The Seneca Nation Health Department will hire an outside evaluator to review its current programs, determine the programs’ relative strengths and weaknesses, compare the programs to others within tribal and general U.S. communities, and provide direction on how to improve these programs and recommendations for further program development. Ultimately, the Seneca Nation Health Department will create an innovative model program for diabetes that attracts a broad range of community members. The information gained from the consultant will be shared among other tribes in the United Southern and Eastern Tribes conference, and with the Indian Health Service.