Publication Date

Fall 10-2023

Abstract

Background: The Native Health Database (NHD) was created in the early 1990s and functioned for nearly three decades exclusively as an abstracting database; it provided text-based search results and in some cases embedded external links to full text content. Its purpose was (and continues to be) to provide information pertaining to the health and health care of Indigenous populations in North America—to myriad end users who in turn can use the content to improve health outcomes for Indigenous peoples.

Case Presentation: The period of 1993-2022 is a significant period in the management of the NHD, demonstrating the relationship between changing technology, new approaches to outreach, and increasing awareness around the importance of programmatic sustainability. By the middle of 2019, the NHD was at a significant crossroads, and changes needed to be made in order to find a sustainable approach to its continued operations. The years 2019-2022 saw a thoughtful review and complete overhaul to the infrastructure supporting the NHD.

Conclusion: The first 29 years (1993-2022) of the NHD was a period of time that included significant change to the management, design, and implementation of a nationally-recognized resource. Readers will find important takeaways and lessons learned when engaging in similar projects. Most notably, these include considerations for sustainability; best practices for effective outreach; and cultural considerations when working with Indigenous information and people.

Document Type

Article

Language

English

Keywords

AI/AN; Indigenous health; databases, outreach

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

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