Hesitancy, Education and Adapting: Practices for Indigenous Community Connections with Tam Lutz and Tyanne Conner
As the year begins to wind to a close, it is the time when people begin to reflect on how they were in the past year and how they can be better going forward.This episode with Lummi Tribal member, Tam Lutz, MPH, MHA, CPST, and Native Boost Project Manager, Tyanne Conner, MS offers great insight into how we can show up, support, and be better for Indigenous communities. We address hesitancy around medical trauma, vast health differences, and how adapting to the community you are serving is vital.
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Our Host
Ari O’Donovan
Our Guests
Tam Lutz, MPH, MHA, CPS
Tam is a Lummi Tribal member with ancestral ties to the Quinault, Nooksack, Skagit, Chinook, Cowlitz, Snoqualmie, Suquamish and Duwamish Tribes. Tam has spent over 26 years working in public health in Indian Country, including over 21 years at the NPAIHB in directing maternal child health programs including chronic disease and motor vehicle injury focused projects, research studies and surveillance. Tam serves as the NW Tribal Epi Center’s (NWTEC’s)Project Director for WEAVE-NW, funded through the CDC’s Good Health and Wellness in Indian Country (GHWIC) initiative and Native Boost: Addressing Barriers to Childhood Immunization through Communication and Education,” a CDC funded Tribal public health capacity project.
Tyanne Conner, MS
Tyanne is a descendent of settlers of Irish, English, and Scottish and is the Native Boost Project Coordinator at the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board (NPAIHB). She came to the NPAIHB from the CDC Foundation where she served as the COVID-19 Public Health Workforce Development Trainer and prior to that she worked at OHSU in the School of Medicine as a Program Technician for the Undergraduate Medical Education program where she supported incredibly wonderful students and faculty. In her free time she enjoys creating all manner of things including watercolor paintings, fiber crafts, and new recipes from garden delights. When she is not at home, she and her wife can be found wandering the beaches and mountains in search of rocks, sticks, and other treasures to incorporate into art projects and recipes.
Transcript:
[00:00:00] Ari O’Donovan: Thank you so much for listening to boosting our Voices. This program has been brought to you by Boost, Oregon. You can find them online@boostoregon.org
[00:00:13] Tyanne Connor: because of historical trauma and because of just when you have health disparities that are really great, like vast differences in some areas of health.
[00:00:26] I think there's just more work to be done to make people feel safe and heard and valued.
[00:00:37] Ari O’Donovan: Welcome back y'all to another episode of Boosting Our Voices. As always, we are here to amplify. Bipo Voices. Name is Ira O'Donovan, and I'm Booster against Diversity Program Manager as well as your host, I have Ta Letz and Tay Connor of Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board.
[00:00:54] Joining me today. Tam, can you please introduce yourself and your language? Sure.
[00:00:59] Tam Lutz: Nott Sam Qui, uh, TamTam Wicken, Chuck Clemmings. I introduced myself in Chas, or the language of the Mation, and what I said was, hello friends. Good afternoon. My name is Tam and I'm from the Wick scenario of the lem.
[00:01:22] Ari O’Donovan: Wow. I already know this episode's gonna be amazing.
[00:01:25] Just that start right there. Lets me know that Ty in. Can you introduce yourself a little bit too? Thank you.
[00:01:32] Tyanne Connor: I'm the Native Boost project manager. I've been with the Northwest Portland area Indian Health Board for two years now. And a little bit about me personally, I'm married to my best friend, my wife Lea Wallace, and we have a dog and two cats and two chickens.
[00:01:51] We live here in Portland. We love foraging for mushrooms and hiking and making great food, and making art, kinda [00:02:00] living the dream.
[00:02:01] Ari O’Donovan: That's so wonderful. I love that. And. I was talking to you guys about this earlier, but every time I talk to you guys, I learn something amazing and new about each of you and your experiences and the work that you do and just your personal lives, and I can't wait to learn more.
[00:02:18] During this episode, we're gonna talk about a lot of really amazing things. It's always a joy to work with you guys and I. Can't be more excited about this episode, so thank you for being here. Tam, can you share more about your tribes that you belong to and how long you've been working to serve your community?
[00:02:36] Tam Lutz: Sure. I'm a member of the Lummi Nation, which is in Northwestern Washington just before you get to the Canadian border. And I also have like many Northwest tribal members. I also have ancestral ties to other northwest tribes, including the qu. Cowlitz, Chinook, Duwamish, Suquamish, Almi, Skagit and Nooksack Tribes, as well as cow in, in Canada.
[00:03:05] And, uh, a lot of Northwest Tribal members descend from a number of tribes other than the ones that they're enrolled in. While I'm enrolled in, in the Lumi Nation. I actually grew up nearby the Quinalt Indian Nation, and as an adult I have a home at the Lummi Nation where I began my career in public health in Indian country.
[00:03:28] So I worked there, um, before coming to the northwest Portland area and did health board in 2000. So I've worked in Indian country and public health for. Nearly 28 years now, mainly in maternal child health, either research, data surveillance or health promotion. But it's also included projects like Native Boost and that reaches out to improve, uh, childhood immunization, [00:04:00] but also in directing another vaccine related project that's a alliance nationally of tribal epic centers.
[00:04:08] To work together to improve adult vaccination.
[00:04:12] Ari O’Donovan: That is all outstanding. And I've just gotta stop right there and say 28 years.
[00:04:18] Tam Lutz: Wow. That is, I know. Crazy, isn't it? I came down to Portland, to the health board for a two year job. I was just gonna get some experience and head back to my tribe. And nearly 23 years later, I'm still here.
[00:04:38] Tyanne Connor: That shows it's a really good place to be. It's a great, my favorite place I've ever worked. The most amazing teams. Projects, you know, filled with passionate, excited individuals. It's like I won the lottery working, working here.
[00:04:53] Ari O’Donovan: I love that. I really love that. And that's how I feel about my job at Boost.
[00:04:57] And I love to talk to other people that really love what they do and it's amazing and heartwarming to me, TA that you've been making a difference in Native American communities and doing public health work for 28 years.
[00:05:10] Tam Lutz: Wow. The Northwest Portland area Indian Health Board where Ty and I work, is a trusted nonprofit that's been around for this year, 50 years strong.
[00:05:25] And it serves, uh, the 43 tribes of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. And the health Board is governed by a delegate from each one of those tribe. And so hence we work under their direction we're they are our bosses, the tribes. So we're under the direction of the tribes and we work for the tribes. And our organization provides support in terms of health policy both regionally and nationally.
[00:05:55] We have clinical support programs, an environmental health [00:06:00] program. We also have a Northwest tribal epic center. That provides support in data surveillance, health research, technical assistance, and health promotion and disease prevention programs, and I'm sure it will be around for a very long time. And it's based here in
[00:06:21] Tyanne Connor: Portland, Oregon.
[00:06:23] So the board, so the YouTube channel, the board's, npa, A I H B YouTube channel, um, is releasing our new, um, vaccine confidence. It's with the vaccinated, uh, coalition of the epicenters across the country. We're releasing a PSA on Friday. So there's the little, uh, teaser on there right now, and, uh, I can give you the link if you wanna promote that and, uh, check it out.
[00:06:49] We're really excited about that as well.
[00:06:50] Tam Lutz: The PSA is really covering an issue that came up when we were discussing hesitation around vaccines, and one of the things that people talked about is those that have utilized maybe more traditional medicines or traditional ceremonies to protect or maintain their.
[00:07:12] And how does that work together with other things like naturopathic, pathic health, like vaccines, and that these things don't have to be in contrast, you know, weave together for optimal health. And so it's looking at how we do that in other aspects that are traditional in our lives in Indian country. So we looked at like, how do we do that in Indian country to protect plants and medicines or traditional foods?
[00:07:41] And traditional foods are, you know, foods that we farm in our communities. We have adapted that to include modern conventions. You know, we can do that with vaccines as well, and weave those together for optimal health. So I'm excited for people to see it. So [00:08:00]
[00:08:00] Ari O’Donovan: that's such an important point that a natural way of life can go and coincide with vaccination.
[00:08:08] That's so important. So Tam and Ty, please tell listeners more about your roles at N P A I H B,
[00:08:17] Tam Lutz: I'm the maternal and child Health programs director at the Northwest Portland area in Health Board. In addition to directing the two vaccine related projects here, I'm also the co-principal investigator for two research studies that come out of the Northwest Travel Epidemiology Center at the Health.
[00:08:37] That are looking at maternal substance use and the other that is looking at motor vehicle injuries and deaths. In addition to that, I direct a, um, very broad based chronic disease prevention project that is addressing four areas, including diabetes, heart disease, and stroke, tobacco use, and food system.
[00:09:06] And in addition to that, I run the maternal Child Health Echo, which is really group effort of our maternal child health work group at the Health Board that brings opportunities for maternal child health providers to learn about topics in maternal child health and listen to real life cases that tribal providers need advice from faculty.
[00:09:35] And I'll head it over to. Ta, every time you
[00:09:39] Tyanne Connor: introduce yourself, I learn more about you and I'm even more impressed. And yes, I would say that even if you were not my boss,
[00:09:50] So I was working, uh, previously at O H S U in the School of Medicine, and I used to coordinate the first 18 months of the med school. [00:10:00] And, uh, I love the students and the faculty. You know, just being in that environment where people were constantly learning. I have a passion for equity education and higher education specifically, and health are sort of my passion.
[00:10:15] So in equities, I always really like to see sort of the intersection between those things. So that was really interesting for me to be in that environment at O H S U. And when the pandemic hit, I just felt a bit. Like I could do more for my community. So I found this position through the CDC foundation, working here at the board, responding to covid and working on vaccine confidence for covid vaccines and.
[00:10:45] That was a short term project and I met TA in an online, uh, meeting and she said, oh, I'm already doing this vaccine confidence work with kids. Maybe you should come work with me. And so we have been sort of making vaccine confidence magic ever since.
[00:11:05] Ari O’Donovan: That is fabulous. And it sounds to me like you guys, both of you wear a lot of hat.
[00:11:11] You do a lot of things, a lot of really outstanding things. Thank you.
[00:11:16] Tyanne Connor: I think it's because we really enjoy what we do and we're able, for myself, especially, I'm able to combine my passion for lifelong learning. I always wanna be learning something new. I wanna see the connections between things, and I wanna be creative in the response to problems, and I'm really allowed to do that here.
[00:11:38] This is an organization that says yes. If you have an idea, if you have an area of expertise that somebody else doesn't have, it's very much a community centered effort where we all wanna grow each other and we all want to support each other. I don't find a lot of competition here. It's mostly like, Ooh, you have that skill.
[00:11:58] Let's you know, [00:12:00] let's grow that in you and let's see if we can inspire other people. So it's really a chance to do so many more things than I would've ever expected by reading a job description. And I guess
[00:12:11] Tam Lutz: my motivation is really more, you know, I've worked at my own tribe in the past and I know, you know, the things that they have to overcome there in terms of their, the populations that they serve.
[00:12:27] And I've met some of the most amazing, selfless people who do so much for their communities and in some cases, little resource resources. With limited staffing and anything we can do to support the work that they're doing, it's an honor to be able to help them. I
[00:12:50] Ari O’Donovan: appreciate that you guys are so willing to work together and with other caring and intelligent individuals that want to reach the same common goals that you guys.
[00:13:01] I think that's the best way to reach people, and I think it's the best way to tailor your resources so that they make the most sense for the communities that you're trying to do the outreach in.
[00:13:13] Tyanne Connor: Well, I think that's a really good point about tailoring the resources, because I think for a lot of, especially a lot of white folks in the United States, they're like, oh yeah, the tribes, and they think that it's a monolith, or they think that.
[00:13:29] People don't exist. They, there's, you know, they've been erased. People have been erased. So if they do think of tribes, they're like, yeah, and they think of like one kind of area. And a lot of times it's the Navajo nation because they're, you know, very large and have great representation. Um, so really educating people that every single tribe is sovereign.
[00:13:52] They have completely d. Things going on in their communities. They need different resources. They have different values sometimes. [00:14:00] And so being able to be flexible and let them tell us what we can do to serve them, that's the most exciting part because you know that the work that you do is going to make a difference because you're not just sort of putting it out into the ether, you're directing it towards people who already know what they need and they just need
[00:14:20] Tam Lutz: some support.
[00:14:21] And I think, you know, during Covid, it actually. Oddly enough, forged some recognition for tribes and some relationships were improved. Um, local health jurisdictions or county health jurisdictions could see the good work that tribes were doing for their own populations in terms of, of vaccines for covid or responding to covid.
[00:14:47] And in many times, tribes reached out to their neighboring communi. Providing vaccinations, not just for the people in their tribal population, but the non-native population, either that was living on reservation or even in ca in some cases for schools that were, had a tribal population there and they could see the work that they were doing and you know, built relationships that may have been strained in the past or just under.
[00:15:20] Ari O’Donovan: Yeah, and it's just like both of you really mentioned for me, it starts with the acknowledgement. That's the first step right there. There's more than one tribe. There's many tribes, and each one of them has their own values, their own culture, their own way of doing things. And their own government. And their own government.
[00:15:38] Exactly. And you can't come into a situation where you're trying to do something collaborative with a tribe. With just a list of things that you want to do your way, that is never going to work. It's never appropriate. Yeah, agreed.
[00:15:55] Tyanne Connor: I really like that. Boost Oregon has, has made a [00:16:00] lot of really great awareness campaigns.
[00:16:03] I guess your, I, I noticed that your website is different and really looking at and serving communities of color intentionally. I think is really important because a lot of times people don't know the disparities. They don't know why it's important to tailor, you know, messages differently in different communities.
[00:16:24] So anytime that those messages can be out there, I think is gonna be really beneficial for everybody.
[00:16:31] Ari O’Donovan: Mm-hmm. , I agree. And, and we did redo the website and, and I had some input on, on how to. The website more user friendly for Bipo communities. That was a really important project for me. It can't be a one size fits all as we've been discussing.
[00:16:49] It's gotta be specific and you've gotta focus on the individual needs of a community and
[00:16:56] Tyanne Connor: be responsive to changes that need to happen, especially in public health. We know. That, you know, we have to keep up on the messaging. We have to keep up on what kind of rumors are going around right now so we can be responsive and change based on what people are hearing right now and what people need right now.
[00:17:14] I think that's the most exciting part. You don't, don't have time to stagnate here cuz things move really quickly. Gotta
[00:17:20] Ari O’Donovan: be on the. Yes, particularly with the pandemic, and you just really have to learn to adapt. And it's not like you're going in here and doing this alone. If you just listen to the tribes, if you just come in with a respectful attitude and you're listening to people, then you can find the information you need.
[00:17:39] And if you come in with a caring heart and you wanna do that good work, it can be done.
[00:17:44] Tyanne Connor: Definitely trying to separate, I mean, it's easy for tribes to know. Who's coming in with good intentions and who's coming in with that sort of extractive mentality where they wanna take [00:18:00] information or, you know, make people into research subjects without giving anything back.
[00:18:05] And I think that that is sometimes how people approach tribes and that's not going to work. There's already existing relationships and structure. And just finding people who say, Hey, we want support. You know, cuz there's a lot of people out there that go to all these coalition meetings, their state and and local meetings.
[00:18:27] Sometimes cold calling tribes does not work cuz they don't know you and that's okay. You know? Cause they know somebody who else, you know, who can serve as well.
[00:18:38] Ari O’Donovan: Right. And I think it's important not to come in with. A mentality of just coming for a one and done type of thing where you come and you dump a whole bunch of resources and Okay.
[00:18:50] I did my good work. The best types of connections that I've found and my coworkers at Boost Oregon have found is those that you build it together and it's a long term thing. It can't be something where it's just a one time event. I think that's really, I. And that brings me to a really new project that you guys have released, and I'd like to know what prompted you and your team to start the Project Native Boost?
[00:19:18] Tam Lutz: Sure. Well, it's interesting when we first kind of started down this path, it was actually pre Covid. And at that time a lot of people hadn't experienced vaccine preventable diseases. You know, before covid 19. So didn't really have that on their radar, what the consequences might be. But our kind of partnering crime, Dr.
[00:19:43] Tom Wiser at IHS from the Portland area. He oversees our IHS immunization program and he had been tracking childhood immunizations and becoming more and more concerned about seeing the rates [00:20:00] lowering over the years. And so we kind of joined together. And both of us also had personal family histories ourselves or our family members that had had experienced serious health consequences from diseases that are now vaccine preventable.
[00:20:21] And some of those family members had lifelong health and quality of life impacts from those disease. Both of us had a lot of kind of passion for this type of work. We really wanted folks to know that, you know, that there could be real health consequences and these could be lifelong impacts to their lives and or for their child.
[00:20:48] And we wanted to work with providers to come up with ways to help our communities build that confidence and desire to to be vaccin. And Tom looked into a number of different other programs and came across Boost Oregon. And so, you know, reached out to them and they invited us to come to a community, what did we call it?
[00:21:17] A community? Community workshop. Community workshop. It was in a toy store in Portland and just kind of watch, you know, watch and learn the way that was conduct. We really liked it and we could see how that, you know, with some tweaks to it could work for Indian country. And so we put a proposal together to CDC and lo and behold, the program got funded.
[00:21:41] And so that's kind of how the ball started. And certainly like as you all were talking, there are things. You know, would need to be revised or looked at, how would we do this in Indian country? And so I'll Letty talk a little bit more about that, how we built [00:22:00] from there, and
[00:22:01] Tyanne Connor: a little bit more about why I was interested in doing this work.
[00:22:04] So I used to work at Dorn Becker Children's Hospital at the General Pediatric Clinic. And so, I really saw the importance of childhood immunizations, and we had a lot of talk about rates declining, especially in the Portland area, and we saw the impact when children got diseases that were vaccine preventable.
[00:22:26] It was devastating to the child, to their families, to communities, but it was also devastating for the staff and the providers. We really had that experience. How serious of an issue this is. I don't have children. So if I hadn't been able to work there and see that and work on quality improvement projects around this, I wouldn't have known.
[00:22:48] And it's a pretty easy group to have a big heart for, you know, no one wants a child to suffer, especially from something that can be prevented with something as simple as a vaccine. And so, you know, as Tam had. Many people don't understand or didn't before Covid understand the importance of vaccines cuz it was sort of an invisible benefit that we had in this country.
[00:23:15] It was something that you just did to, to be able to go to school. People had their appointments, they didn't question it, and so, I think people are really suffering because they haven't had the experience of watching somebody suffer from polio or hearing the experiences of family members who had vaccine preventable diseases.
[00:23:35] Were in a different place now, but that was really my background and passion for doing this kind of work because it's a really easy, simple solution. And so providing the information and providing the support and resources to communities, um, it's really, really important. And it's kind of almost low hanging fruit, even though, you know, there's [00:24:00] a lot of hesitancy now because of the Covid vaccine.
[00:24:04] I think it's still something every single person wants their child safe and. And healthy, no matter where you come from, that's your goal for your child, for your family. And when we can all connect on that, I think that's the way to really move forward on these vaccine confidence projects. And that's no different in Indian country.
[00:24:26] Everybody wants their kids safe and happy and healthy. So I think that the difference. In Indian country, so I should have mentioned this at the beginning. I'm white, I'm descendant of settlers of English, Irish, and Scottish heritage. And so for me, as a white person working in Indian country, it's really important for me to state at the outset.
[00:24:52] I understand that as a white person coming into your community, I might not be well received because of historical trauma. But it's not just historical, right? We know people still experience discrimination in healthcare right now, every single day. So addressing the fact, I know I'm white and that I might be the wrong person to give a certain message at a certain time, and that's okay because we have other people in your community that can give those messages to the people who need to hear it the most.
[00:25:31] Tailoring the messages to address why people are hesitant in Indian country because of historical trauma and because of just when you have health disparities that are really great, like vast differences in some areas of health. I think there's just more work to be done to make people feel safe and heard and value.
[00:25:59] And so I [00:26:00] think that's the work that's a slight bit different in, well, pretty different in Indian country. And so the materials that we adapted from Boost Oregon, we really are very upfront about those things that are important because we don't want that to be a hidden message. We wanna address it right up front.
[00:26:19] We understand why you feel the way you do, and yet here's the way we move forward together.
[00:26:25] Ari O’Donovan: I definitely think addressing it up front is the best way to go. Whenever Boost Oregon staff give presentations, we do a land acknowledgement and we also acknowledge past public health failures and traumas experienced by Native American communities as well as other Bipo communities.
[00:26:48] It's just the best way to start something because if you ignore. Or try to minimize it. You're already introducing a layer of disrespect from the outset and it's not going to be a, a very favorable relationship from there. So you touched on this a little bit. Can you share more about how Native Boost addresses the concerns that you mentioned?
[00:27:12] Well, we do
[00:27:13] Tam Lutz: have a travel advisory committee as part of our program. Of trusted individuals. Some are individuals that work at the health board or that are members of tribes that we serve. We also have providers that work in Indian country that are also good resources to review kind of our work plan as well as the items that we're producing to make sure.
[00:27:41] It rings clear in Indian country that the language that we're using is appropriate or will be well received if there are areas that we're not touching on that we're missing everything that we make. We assume also that as it's being received and used, [00:28:00] that these are living, breathing resources that we can continue to make useful for Indian.
[00:28:09] Ari O’Donovan: Fabulous. And I've looked at some of the resources from Native Boost and I've shared them on our social media cuz they're great. And I think people more, as many people as possible should know about them, write down to the images, the text. It's just 360 degrees of tailoring to these communities and I really appreciate that.
[00:28:29] I'm glad that Boost Oregon. Provide a community workshop that gave you so many ideas on how you could make something long lasting and helpful for Native American communities. So tell me a little bit more about what resources are offered as part of Native Boost.
[00:28:49] Tyanne Connor: Similarly to Boost Oregon, we provide trainings for, uh, clinicians for staff at clinics.
[00:28:58] So recently the Oregon Health Authority invited us down to the Selects Tribal Clinic. Uh, they're doing a QI project. And we got to tag along. And as the entire staff, every level front desk person, all the way to the providers, everybody was in the room, they were able to talk together about what they wanted to tackle, specifically to increase the immunization rates for their young people in their clinic.
[00:29:28] So we got to see exactly what's important, what they're already doing well, what they need support on, and. Recently working with one of the Northwest tribes on a QI project. They identified H P V vaccine rates as something they needed to work on. And so we at Native Boost, were able to tailor some messaging and materials to send to them.
[00:29:55] Were also going to be going down and giving a live training. And so one of the [00:30:00] things that's really important, When we work in Indian country is addressing the types of relationships that happen. It might be the front desk person who's checking somebody in who has a relationship with that person and that family, and something as simple as saying, oh, I'm so glad to see you here for your immunization appointment.
[00:30:21] It's so important. Right. So that's a really quick interaction, but it might make a difference to that family and they might know and trust that person more than they know and trust the RN or the provider. Having everybody on the team is really important. So when we do our outreach and trainings, we include everybody and we.
[00:30:43] Try to help people understand the importance of their language. So if somebody says, oh, it's really traumatic when you come in for vaccine appointments, something as simple as that can actually be really triggering for somebody who is sort of on the fence, but now they're thinking it's gonna be traumatic.
[00:31:03] So just tailoring language. To help people just make small tweaks. It doesn't have to be a big, giant, grand campaign to make a difference in clinics that we're working in. We're also gonna be setting out on our new part of our project, which is the Peer Advocate project, and Cam can talk a little bit about that.
[00:31:26] Tam Lutz: Sure. So, um, another thing that we learned from Boost Oregon was the peer. Training, and I think that really rings true for Indian country. A lot of times we may as individual native people have a lot of confidence in vaccines, but it's that circle around us that maybe is struggling, and whether that's a friend or a coworker or a neighbor or another relative that were very concerned about [00:32:00] those circles around us and keeping the people.
[00:32:03] We love safe, but we're not quite sure how to talk to them or how to have meaningful conversations without seeming judgey or condescending or dismissive of their concerns. And so working with just individual community members. Who have a desire to make a difference in the circles that surround them and find new ways that they can talk and, you know, maybe not bring people to immediate change, but hopefully keep a dialogue open and help people recognize meaningful information and where to find it and have discussions about things that people are struggling with.
[00:32:52] Connect them to resources in the community, other trusted voices that they might be able to access so that they can get to that, you know, over a journey of time, possibly get to that point where they're willing to, to become vaccinated. So I think, you know, in some cases, like Ty was saying, sometimes it's not the provider and while providers may be trust, They may have more time with somebody who's a layperson or somebody who is driving them to their appointment, or maybe it's the receptionist, and making sure that for those that are interested and willing to, to give them the tools and resources that they can to help their loved.
[00:33:41] Tyanne Connor: I think that's really important work, and we also use a harm reduction framework as well, so it's not expecting change in the first moment or the first interaction, but also providing tools that might help that person eventually get somewhere. Or at least help them be safer, right? If they're very [00:34:00] hesitant to get a vaccine.
[00:34:01] Then expressing how important it is to wear a mask, a good quality mask when you're indoors, when you're around people who aren't your family or you know, your close inner circle. It might be hand washing, it might be having a fan in the window if you invite people over. It might be simple things like that and showing.
[00:34:20] That you care about somebody and that you care about their entire being and their wellbeing, I think is a, a really beneficial way to move somebody towards vaccine confidence. And it might be in that next conversation that they ask more about vaccines or why. That person believes vaccines are important.
[00:34:38] So we definitely, we never wanna use shame or intimidation, and we don't like the polarization that HAP has happened, especially in the last few years trying to stay. With that shared goal of keeping people healthy, protecting culture, protecting elders, and we really love that. The framework of like what's important to you, motivational interviewing strategies of what's important to you.
[00:35:08] Maybe you have kids and you wanna see them play sports, so you want them vaccinated so they're healthy and they can. That's one of our campaigns, provide, protect, play, helping people get their kids ready to play sports and get up to date on their vaccinations. Going back to school for other people that don't have kids, maybe it's like, I wanna be vaccinated so I can visit my mom in a care facility.
[00:35:33] I wanna be vaccinated so I can go to work and protect my coworkers who might not be able to get vaccinated. So it's helping each person find their motivation and find. Getting vaccinated would help them and the people that they
[00:35:49] Ari O’Donovan: love. That is so beautiful, and I know that when I first started working to create and build the peer advocacy program at Boost Oregon, I [00:36:00] give presentations and I tailor them to whichever group I'm giving them the best I can.
[00:36:06] That's a level to it, but the next level is, Groups like you guys to take the program that we have and make it even more specific to the communities that you wanna serve. That is something that I had always dreamed would happen with the peer advocacy program, and I'm so happy to see that it is actually happening and in such a meaningful way.
[00:36:29] I really do love that.
[00:36:30] Tam Lutz: When I think of the success of Boost Oregon, I think one of the things that most impresses me is the lack. Kind of territorialism and that how Boost Oregon just really wants people in whatever way they can use their resources or their methods, their ideas. And Nadine from the get go was like, yeah, use it.
[00:36:58] Change it, make it work for you. You know, you know, it wasn't like, well, you know, , that was my idea, that was mine. So we're just very appreciated to have that resource available to us to start from. And we may make changes, but it really has helped to not have to, you know, reinvent the wheel and to have, have models to look at.
[00:37:24] Mm.
[00:37:26] Ari O’Donovan: Absolutely. I can hear Nadine saying that in my head right now. That's the exact response. Yeah. I expect from. That's the response I would've given too,
[00:37:35] Tyanne Connor: exactly like this is, this is all of our information. It's relevant to everybody and the reach is further than you probably anticipated as well. We just met another tribal epicenter.
[00:37:46] Tribal epicenter. Um, And we, you know, are sharing those resources with them as they get their, and they're working,
[00:37:54] Tam Lutz: looking at your website.
[00:37:55] Tyanne Connor: Yes. And so, um, yeah, so they're in Oklahoma [00:38:00] and so, you know, just really growing that network of port of individuals and sharing resources. Yeah, it's a very different kind of feeling than academia where you're like, no, it's mine.
[00:38:12] It was my idea. I put it together, which is very limiting and it really cuts people off from doing great work. Sometimes we're sort of the opposite of that is if it's helpful for you, go for it. Yeah. If you want help tailoring it, ask me all help.
[00:38:28] Tam Lutz: Yeah. I think it just repeats itself from the next person, like Ty saying, like, when we're, you know, we're looking at your models.
[00:38:37] Modifying them to fit the communities that we're serving. And when we're serving those communities, we're, we're telling them the same thing. Use it, modify it. Ask us what changes you want to make, and so on and so on. So we hope, you know, the traction that's started out of Boost Oregon goes a long way.
[00:38:55] Ari O’Donovan: I can't wait.
[00:38:56] I just can't wait to see the growth. I can't wait to see it. Reach even more communities, different communities with their own specific cultures and and way that they're going to use those resources. I just look forward to that. That's gonna be really exciting. I'm so glad that you guys found the peer advocacy program and used it in a way that makes sense for you and the communities that you're serving.
[00:39:21] And I know there's gonna be a ton of other projects that we can work together with down the road, and I can't wait for those.
[00:39:29] Tam Lutz: Yep, absolutely.
[00:39:31] Tyanne Connor: It's really exciting too. It was over the summer, Nadine had presented or moderated, I think, a panel discussion with the young people who had started, you know, immunization awareness campaign.
[00:39:42] I'm not sure what they called it, but they were really inspiring. I didn't get to see the whole session, but I'm very excited to watch. How they take things and grow with it. Especially using social media like TikTok. I'm just really excited to see them take [00:40:00] that on and you know, those are the next public health professionals or maybe they're gonna be working in healthcare and those people are gonna be the change that we're all hoping to see.
[00:40:11] It's so exciting to see the young people
[00:40:13] Ari O’Donovan: involved. Yeah. You're talking about four youth immunization and from the moment that that started, I thought to. This is a group of people, young people that we haven't really been able to reach as well as we'd like to. And it's something where young people have to be doing that kind of work and outreach with each other because it's gonna be more meaningful that way and way more tailored that way.
[00:40:39] And from the beginning that that happened, it's been growing and I can't wait to see it grow even more. I'd love to get more young people and teens. And in more than just Portland Metro, just even further out. That's a brand new adventure for us too. Well, thank you guys so much for joining me. Ta and Ty, it's been wonderful.
[00:41:02] Every time I talk to you, it's wonderful. There's a lot of new information out there that people can learn more about. And I'm so grateful that you guys came as guests on boosting our voices. Thank you so much.
[00:41:14] Tam Lutz: Thank you. Hi Garcia. That means thank you, . Love it.
[00:41:25] Ari O’Donovan: Don't be a stranger. Email us or send us a voice memo at boosting our voices gmail.com with your health related questions. Your questions may even be featured on an upcoming podcast episode. Follow Boost Oregon on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok. You can find all of our social media and our website information in the show description below.
[00:41:49] Until next time, thank you for listening and be well.[00:42:00]