Culturally-centered care for urban American Indian and Alaska Native people with opioid use disorder

Increasing the Capacity of a Community-Based Research Center to Address Opioid Use Disorder and Related Health Inequities in Urban American Indian Communities

NIH-funded research Native American Community Clinic · NIH-11375364

This project will build and try out a program that blends Indigenous healing and Western treatments to help urban American Indian and Alaska Native people with opioid use disorder.

Quick facts

Grant typeNIH-funded research
Study typeNIH-funded research
Funding institutionNative American Community Clinic NIH-funded
Lab location1 site (Minneapolis, United States)
Project IDNIH-11375364 on NIH RePORTER

What this research studies

From a patient perspective, the clinic will expand its research team and create policies so it can run local projects that matter to the community. They will set up a Community Advisory Board and a Scientific Advisory Board to guide how cultural healing practices are woven into clinic care alongside medications and counseling. The team will try the approach in a small mixed-methods pilot using surveys, interviews, and clinical measures to see how it works for patients. Results will be used to prepare a larger NIDA-funded proposal to test the model more broadly.

Who could benefit from this research

Good fit: Ideal candidates are urban American Indian and Alaska Native adults who receive care at the Native American Community Clinic and who are struggling with opioid use disorder or related substance use.

Not a fit: People who are not American Indian or Alaska Native, who live outside the clinic's service area, or who do not have opioid-related problems are unlikely to benefit directly from this project.

Why it matters

Potential benefit: If successful, this could increase access to culturally-responsive OUD care and help reduce overdoses and related health gaps for urban American Indian and Alaska Native patients.

How similar studies have performed: Integrated and culturally-tailored addiction programs have shown promise in some settings, but Indigenous-led urban models like this are relatively new and not yet widely tested.

Where this research is happening

Minneapolis, United States

Researchers

About this research

  1. This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
  2. Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
  3. For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.
Conditions Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome VirusAcquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome Virus
Last reviewed 2026-06-13 by the Find a Trial editorial team. Information on this page is for educational purposes and is not medical advice. Always consult qualified healthcare professionals about clinical trial participation.