Wellness Strategies for Health

The Wellness Strategies for Health (WSH) program is focused on preventing diabetes, heart disease, and stroke among Alaska Native people through strategic policy, systems, and environmental changes and effective community-clinical linkages.

The WSH and REACH programs are now housed at the ANTHC Wellness and Prevention department: https://www.anthc.org/what-we-do/wellness/health-promotion-disease-prevention/

The WSH team supports chronic disease prevention throughout Alaska by providing funding and technical assistance to Tribal health partners, and carrying out special projects and statewide initiatives. Currently, WSH coordinates three projects:

Policy, Systems, and Environmental Change for Chronic Disease Prevention

Good Health and Wellness

Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Good Health and Wellness in Indian Country Component 2 (GHWIC C2) grant, this five-year project supports implementation of culturally adapted evidence-based strategies to:

  • Increase opportunities for safe physical activity, access to healthy foods, and community support for breastfeeding
  • Increase tobacco-free areas and reduce tobacco use
  • Strengthen community-clinical linkages (CCLs) to better serve people with prediabetes
  • Strengthen CCLs and team-based care to better serve people with high cholesterol or high blood pressure

Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health

Through a three-year grant from the CDC’s Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) program, the WSH team is working with partner Tribal health organizations throughout Alaska to develop and implement:

  • Culturally tailored interventions to address tobacco use and support good nutrition
  • CCLs to increase access to health care and preventive care programs at the community level

Campus Healthy Food Project

The Campus Healthy Food (CHeF) Project is a partnership between the EpiCenter and the State of Alaska Division of Public Health focused on increasing the number of healthy food and beverage options available at ANTHC facilities and making it easier for people to choose those options. The five-year project began in 2018 and is funded by the CDC’s State Physical Activity and Nutrition grant.

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