CHAP

Community Health Aide Programs (CHAP) have proven to be a sustainable, effective, and culturally acceptable method for delivering care to Tribal communities. This tribally focused healthcare model is a multi-tiered, multidisciplinary, and culturally relevant approach to providing greater access to health care to rural tribal communities. Going on 60 years, CHAP was established in Alaska to address a Tuberculosis epidemic across the state, and eventually other health concerns, such as primary care, mental health, and dental health. Its success is attributed to the strong collaboration between Tribal Nations as well as state & federal governments and has spurred program expansion to the lower forty-eight states since 2018. This creates the opportunity for homegrown and culturally knowledgable providers to be present in the unique community that each provider might have direct connections to, and who also understand the needs of the community as they are themselves a part of the community. This model also provides a unique opportunity for tribal members to establish career paths that allow them to stay within their communities while simultaneously filling the gaps of need for healthcare providers and access to care for the community members. Providers include workers in health education, communicable disease control, maternal and child health, dental health, behavioral health, family planning, environmental health, and other areas.