HEALTH EDUCATION AND OUTREACH FOR THE CROW PEOPLE
Speaking out
to educate and encourage
About us
Messengers for Health is an Indigenous 501(c)(3) non-profit organization located on the Apsáalooke (Crow) Reservation in Montana.
Mission
Growing, fostering, and supporting trusted and respected community leaders to improve the health of Apsáalooke (Crow Indian) men, women, and children using solutions that respect and honor Apsáalooke strengths, culture, stories, and language. We utilize traditional methods of knowledge transmission, harness cultural strengths and value the guidance, knowledge, and expertise of our community members.
We accomplish our mission through community outreach and education.
We train community members as advocates who go out into the community and use the Crow cultural perspective to educate their relatives and neighbors about disease prevention, accessing resources and support.
We are Unique
We are the only Indigenous non-profit organization in Montana that focuses on health and wellness of the community by using local cultural strengths. We know that solutions are in the community, they do not come from the outside. We have built working relationships across multiple and diverse public and private sectors. These are strong and healthy relationships where we act as a bridge to bring people together to build a healthy community in a synergistic manner, which has never existed before in the community. We have worked in multiple topic areas including women’s and men’s health, healthcare provider cultural competency, chronic illness self-management, healthy relationships, elder support services and mental and emotional well-being.
“Women are the backbone of the Crow community.
Cure the women and you cure the community.”
History
Messengers for Health began in 1996 with a dialogue between members of the Apsaalooke (Crow) Nation and a Montana State University faculty member who were invested in health equity. They jointly developed a program to study the effectiveness of utilizing community women (called Messengers) to deliver education and encourage Crow women to receive cancer screenings and to partner with the Indian Health Service to provide high quality care to tribal members. They received two research grants from the American Cancer Society in 2001 and 2005.
The program was successful with these outcomes:
Before Messengers for Health:
There is no Crow word for cancer and saying this word outloud was to ask for it to come upon you. Women did not talk with other women about cancer screenings or share with others – including family members - when they had a cancer diagnosis. Women received cancer diagnoses alone, went through treatment alone, and often only at the end of their life shared their diagnosis. There was a lack of communication between mother and daughter relationships regarding sex. It is difficult to convey the strength of these cultural taboos and the efforts it took for Messengers to breakthrough these barriers. Many community members shared that the health care providers at the Indian Health Service could do much better at building positive patient-provider relationships.
Effects of the Program:
The community impact of Messengers for Health has been dramatic. Not only are Crow women now talking about cancer screenings to each other, they are approaching project staff in public and asking for appointments to be scheduled. Cancer survivors are speaking out in public and a support group has started where people publicly show that cancer is not a death sentence. Cervical cancer, once a quiet and deadly epidemic among the Crow women, is now discussed openly. The statistically significant increase in knowledge of cervical cancer and the positive shift in attitudes regarding screening and care are notable.
Culturally sensitive training materials for community outreach workers, as well as videos, training, and a mentoring program for the education of providers at Indian Health Service are in place. One tribal member viewed the overall impact of the Messengers for Health with, “Women are the backbone of the Crow community. Cure the women and you cure the community.”