Valarie Blue Bird Jernigan
Biographic Data
| ID | 73294 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Valarie Blue Bird Jernigan |
| GIVEN NAMES | Valarie Blue Bird |
| FAMILY NAME | Jernigan |
| SIGNATURE | JERNIGAN V B B |
| AFFILIATIONS | Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3965-8518 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 24 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 37 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 24 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2010 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
What nourishes us
Objective: To examine the Indigenous Nourishment Scales (INS), a set of community-developed strengths-based measures of nourishment, for psychometric validity and reliability through community-based research with two urban American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities. Design: Cross-sectional survey of health measures and INS. Descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), correlation analysis and regression were used to determine…
Why Achieving Health Equity for Indigenous Peoples Requires Indigenizing the Social Determinants of Health
Exploring Definitions, Correlates, and Solutions to Food Insecurity during Covid-19
A mixed methods community-based participatory research study was conducted with Native American Lifelines of Baltimore to: (1) understand prevalence, correlates, and lived experiences with food insecurity and (2) explore the effects of and potential solutions to food insecurity. An online survey was completed by 250 American Indian and Alaska Native adults, and a subset of survey respondents (N=11) completed interviews. Quantitative analysis reve…
Impact of Nutrition Interventions on Vitamin and Mineral Intake among Native American Children and Parents
The Food Resource Equity for Sustainable Health (FRESH) study started as a tribe community-based nutrition education program in 2018, implemented with children and parents in Osage Nation. The purpose of the FRESH study is to examine the effects of a farm-to-school family intervention on diet. The FRESH study did not directly intervene on adult caregiver participants' diet, and, as far as we know, it is the first of its kind to implement a farm-t…
Community-Engaged Development of Strengths-Based Nutrition Measures
Mainstream approaches to nutrition typically focus on diet consumption, overlooking multi-dimensional aspects of nutrition that are important to American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities. To address health challenges faced by AI/AN communities, strengths-based measures of nutrition grounded in community worldviews are needed. In collaboration with AI/AN communities in Baltimore and Minneapolis, we developed the Indigenous Nourishment Scal…
Toward Community-Engaged Health Care to Bridge Public Health With Clinical Care
The United States currently has a health care system that is overly focused on the provision of sick care, which can be defined as health care that prioritizes the management and 1300
Native opportunities to stop hypertension
Introduction: American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) adults experience disproportionate cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality compared to other races, which may be partly attributable to higher burden of hypertension (HTN). Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) is a high-impact therapeutic dietary intervention for primary and secondary prevention of CVD that can contribute to significant decreases in systolic blood pres…
Development and Implementation of a Hybrid Online and In-Person Food Sovereignty and Nutrition Education Curriculum for Native American Parents
The Food Resource Equity and Sustainability for Health (“FRESH”) study is an Indigenous-led intervention to increase vegetable and fruit intake among Native American children. As part of this study, we developed a hybrid (online and in-person) food sovereignty and nutrition education curriculum for the parents of these children. This 16-week curriculum was developed to promote household- and community-level healthy eating and food sovereignty pra…
“I don’t remember any of us … having diabetes or cancer”
Past and present structures of settler colonial historical oppression aimed to erase and replace Indigenous peoples have profoundly disrupted U.S. Indigenous foodways. The purpose of this article is to use the Indigenous Framework of Historical Oppression, Resilience, and Transcendence (FHORT) to understand U.S. Indigenous peoples' experiences and perceptions of how (a) foodways have changed within the context of settler colonial historical oppre…
The Worsening Problem of Food Insecurity
This JAMA Forum discusses disparities and food insecurity among underserved populations in the US, the actions being taken by states, tribal actions, and additional steps to ensure food and nutrition security
Design and Methods of a Participatory Healthy Eating Intervention for Indigenous Children
Objective: To increase vegetable and fruit intake, reduce body mass index (BMI), and improve parental blood pressure among American Indian families. Design: Randomized, wait-list controlled trial testing a multi-level (environmental, community, family, and individual) multi-component intervention with data collection at baseline and 6 months post-intervention. Setting: Tribally owned and operated Early Childhood Education (ECE) programs in the Os…
Impacts of Covid-19 on a Food Security Study with the Baltimore Native Community
Urban American Indian/Alaska Native peoples experience disproportionate levels of food insecurity when compared to the general US population. Through a collaborative research partnership between Native American Lifelines of Baltimore, an Urban Indian Health Program, and a Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health student-led research team, food security was identified as a priority issue. A sequential explanatory mixed methods study was pla…
Equity and expertise in the UN Food Systems Summit
The UN Food Systems Summit is expected to launch bold new actions, solutions and strategies to deliver progress on all 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs), each of which requires a transformation in the way the world produces, consumes and thinks about food. However, the summit preparations have started controversially, with claims of corporate capture by prominent civil society groups, who, alongside the current and two former UN Special Rap…
Perceived Environments and Physical Activity Among American Indian Adults Living in Oklahoma
We found that marked crosswalks and nice sidewalks in the town center were associated with getting adequate PA. This research, which identifies specific built environment factors that affect peoples' PA, may be used by tribal and local organizations to more effectively prioritize community interventions to improve PA and potentially the health of the community, specifically in regards to crosswalks and sidewalks
Perceived Environments and Physical Activity Among American Indian Adults Living in Oklahoma
Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action - Volume 15, Issue 3, Fall 2021
Associations of Binge Drinking With Vascular Brain Injury and Atrophy in Older American Indians
Objectives: American Indians (AIs) generally consume less alcohol than the US general population; however, the prevalence of alcohol use disorder is higher. This is the first large cohort study to examine binge drinking as a risk factor for vascular brain injury (VBI). Methods: We used linear and Poisson regression to examine the association of self-reported binge drinking with VBI, measured via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), in 817 older AIs …
Social Support and Physical Activity Among American Indians in Oklahoma
PURPOSE: Little is known about the contribution of social support to physical activity (PA) behavior among American Indians (AIs). This community-based participatory research study examined the prevalence of and associations between different types of PA social support and PA among AIs in rural Oklahoma. METHODS: Our tribal-academic partnership surveyed AI adults (N = 513) living within the tribal jurisdictional areas of 2 tribal nations. We used…
A Healthy Retail Intervention in Native American Convenience Stores
Objectives. To assess a healthy retail intervention in Tribal convenience stores in Oklahoma. Methods. We adapted healthy retail strategies to the context of 8 Tribally owned stores. We assessed individual- and store-level outcomes in a cluster-controlled intervention trial (April 2016–June 2017). We measured fruit and vegetable intake, store environment perceptions, and purchases before and after the intervention among a cohort of 1637 Native Am…
Food choice considerations among American Indians living in rural Oklahoma
Food Insecurity and Chronic Diseases Among American Indians in Rural Oklahoma
Objectives. To examine food insecurity and cardiovascular disease–related health outcomes among American Indians (AIs) in rural Oklahoma. Methods. We surveyed a cross-sectional sample of 513 AI adults to assess food insecurity domains (i.e., food quality and quantity) and obesity, diabetes, and hypertension. Results. Among AIs surveyed, 56% reported inadequate food quantity and 62% reported inadequate food quality. The unadjusted prevalence of di…
Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors and Health Outcomes Among American Indians in Oklahoma
CVD risk factors and health outcomes persist among American Indians even as some risks (e.g., smoking) appear to be stabilizing or even declining in the general US population. Efforts to include American Indians in national health surveys, implement broad reaching environmental and policy interventions, and address the social determinants of health are critical to the elimination of these disparities
Beyond Health Equity
AffiliationsValarie Blue Bird Jernigan and Alicia L. Salvatore are with the College of Public Health, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Tulsa. Michael Peercy and Bobby Saunkeah are with the Health Services Division, Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma, Ada. Dannielle Branam and David Wharton are with the Health Services Division, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Talihina. Marilyn Winkleby is with the Stanford Prevention Research Center, Stanford…
The Adaptation and Implementation of a Community-Based Participatory Research Curriculum to Build Tribal Research Capacity
We studied community-based participatory research in American Indian/Alaska Native communities. We have presented a case study describing a community–clinic–academic partnership with the goal of building tribal capacity and infrastructure to conduct health disparities research. The 2-year intensive training was guided by the framework of an evidence- and community-based participatory research curriculum, adapted and implemented with practice-base…
Changing Patterns in Health Behaviors and Risk Factors Related to Cardiovascular Disease Among American Indians and Alaska Natives
Objectives. We assessed changes in cardiovascular disease–related health outcomes and risk factors among American Indians and Alaska Natives by age and gender. Methods. We used cross-sectional data from the 1995 to 1996 and the 2005 to 2006 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. The respondents were 2548 American Indian and Alaska Native women and men aged 18 years or older in 1995–1996 and 11 104 women and men in 2005–2006. We analyzed the …
The Adaptation and Implementation of a Community-Based Participatory Research Curriculum to Build Tribal Research Capacity
We studied community-based participatory research in American Indian/Alaska Native communities. We have presented a case study describing a community–clinic–academic partnership with the goal of building tribal capacity and infrastructure to conduct health disparities research. The 2-year intensive training was guided by the framework of an evidence- and community-based participatory research curriculum, adapted and implemented with practice-base…
Changing Patterns in Health Behaviors and Risk Factors Related to Cardiovascular Disease Among American Indians and Alaska Natives
Objectives. We assessed changes in cardiovascular disease–related health outcomes and risk factors among American Indians and Alaska Natives by age and gender. Methods. We used cross-sectional data from the 1995 to 1996 and the 2005 to 2006 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. The respondents were 2548 American Indian and Alaska Native women and men aged 18 years or older in 1995–1996 and 11 104 women and men in 2005–2006. We analyzed the …
Beyond Health Equity
AffiliationsValarie Blue Bird Jernigan and Alicia L. Salvatore are with the College of Public Health, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Tulsa. Michael Peercy and Bobby Saunkeah are with the Health Services Division, Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma, Ada. Dannielle Branam and David Wharton are with the Health Services Division, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Talihina. Marilyn Winkleby is with the Stanford Prevention Research Center, Stanford…
Food Insecurity and Chronic Diseases Among American Indians in Rural Oklahoma
Objectives. To examine food insecurity and cardiovascular disease–related health outcomes among American Indians (AIs) in rural Oklahoma. Methods. We surveyed a cross-sectional sample of 513 AI adults to assess food insecurity domains (i.e., food quality and quantity) and obesity, diabetes, and hypertension. Results. Among AIs surveyed, 56% reported inadequate food quantity and 62% reported inadequate food quality. The unadjusted prevalence of di…
Impacts of Covid-19 on a Food Security Study with the Baltimore Native Community
Urban American Indian/Alaska Native peoples experience disproportionate levels of food insecurity when compared to the general US population. Through a collaborative research partnership between Native American Lifelines of Baltimore, an Urban Indian Health Program, and a Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health student-led research team, food security was identified as a priority issue. A sequential explanatory mixed methods study was pla…
Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors and Health Outcomes Among American Indians in Oklahoma
CVD risk factors and health outcomes persist among American Indians even as some risks (e.g., smoking) appear to be stabilizing or even declining in the general US population. Efforts to include American Indians in national health surveys, implement broad reaching environmental and policy interventions, and address the social determinants of health are critical to the elimination of these disparities
Associations of Binge Drinking With Vascular Brain Injury and Atrophy in Older American Indians
Objectives: American Indians (AIs) generally consume less alcohol than the US general population; however, the prevalence of alcohol use disorder is higher. This is the first large cohort study to examine binge drinking as a risk factor for vascular brain injury (VBI). Methods: We used linear and Poisson regression to examine the association of self-reported binge drinking with VBI, measured via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), in 817 older AIs …
A Healthy Retail Intervention in Native American Convenience Stores
Objectives. To assess a healthy retail intervention in Tribal convenience stores in Oklahoma. Methods. We adapted healthy retail strategies to the context of 8 Tribally owned stores. We assessed individual- and store-level outcomes in a cluster-controlled intervention trial (April 2016–June 2017). We measured fruit and vegetable intake, store environment perceptions, and purchases before and after the intervention among a cohort of 1637 Native Am…
Food choice considerations among American Indians living in rural Oklahoma
Changing Patterns in Health Behaviors and Risk Factors Related to Cardiovascular Disease Among American Indians and Alaska Natives
Objectives. We assessed changes in cardiovascular disease–related health outcomes and risk factors among American Indians and Alaska Natives by age and gender. Methods. We used cross-sectional data from the 1995 to 1996 and the 2005 to 2006 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. The respondents were 2548 American Indian and Alaska Native women and men aged 18 years or older in 1995–1996 and 11 104 women and men in 2005–2006. We analyzed the …
Beyond Health Equity
AffiliationsValarie Blue Bird Jernigan and Alicia L. Salvatore are with the College of Public Health, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Tulsa. Michael Peercy and Bobby Saunkeah are with the Health Services Division, Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma, Ada. Dannielle Branam and David Wharton are with the Health Services Division, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Talihina. Marilyn Winkleby is with the Stanford Prevention Research Center, Stanford…
The Adaptation and Implementation of a Community-Based Participatory Research Curriculum to Build Tribal Research Capacity
We studied community-based participatory research in American Indian/Alaska Native communities. We have presented a case study describing a community–clinic–academic partnership with the goal of building tribal capacity and infrastructure to conduct health disparities research. The 2-year intensive training was guided by the framework of an evidence- and community-based participatory research curriculum, adapted and implemented with practice-base…
Food Insecurity and Chronic Diseases Among American Indians in Rural Oklahoma
Objectives. To examine food insecurity and cardiovascular disease–related health outcomes among American Indians (AIs) in rural Oklahoma. Methods. We surveyed a cross-sectional sample of 513 AI adults to assess food insecurity domains (i.e., food quality and quantity) and obesity, diabetes, and hypertension. Results. Among AIs surveyed, 56% reported inadequate food quantity and 62% reported inadequate food quality. The unadjusted prevalence of di…
Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors and Health Outcomes Among American Indians in Oklahoma
CVD risk factors and health outcomes persist among American Indians even as some risks (e.g., smoking) appear to be stabilizing or even declining in the general US population. Efforts to include American Indians in national health surveys, implement broad reaching environmental and policy interventions, and address the social determinants of health are critical to the elimination of these disparities
Food choice considerations among American Indians living in rural Oklahoma
Social Support and Physical Activity Among American Indians in Oklahoma
PURPOSE: Little is known about the contribution of social support to physical activity (PA) behavior among American Indians (AIs). This community-based participatory research study examined the prevalence of and associations between different types of PA social support and PA among AIs in rural Oklahoma. METHODS: Our tribal-academic partnership surveyed AI adults (N = 513) living within the tribal jurisdictional areas of 2 tribal nations. We used…
A Healthy Retail Intervention in Native American Convenience Stores
Objectives. To assess a healthy retail intervention in Tribal convenience stores in Oklahoma. Methods. We adapted healthy retail strategies to the context of 8 Tribally owned stores. We assessed individual- and store-level outcomes in a cluster-controlled intervention trial (April 2016–June 2017). We measured fruit and vegetable intake, store environment perceptions, and purchases before and after the intervention among a cohort of 1637 Native Am…
Equity and expertise in the UN Food Systems Summit
The UN Food Systems Summit is expected to launch bold new actions, solutions and strategies to deliver progress on all 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs), each of which requires a transformation in the way the world produces, consumes and thinks about food. However, the summit preparations have started controversially, with claims of corporate capture by prominent civil society groups, who, alongside the current and two former UN Special Rap…
Perceived Environments and Physical Activity Among American Indian Adults Living in Oklahoma
We found that marked crosswalks and nice sidewalks in the town center were associated with getting adequate PA. This research, which identifies specific built environment factors that affect peoples' PA, may be used by tribal and local organizations to more effectively prioritize community interventions to improve PA and potentially the health of the community, specifically in regards to crosswalks and sidewalks
Perceived Environments and Physical Activity Among American Indian Adults Living in Oklahoma
Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action - Volume 15, Issue 3, Fall 2021
Associations of Binge Drinking With Vascular Brain Injury and Atrophy in Older American Indians
Objectives: American Indians (AIs) generally consume less alcohol than the US general population; however, the prevalence of alcohol use disorder is higher. This is the first large cohort study to examine binge drinking as a risk factor for vascular brain injury (VBI). Methods: We used linear and Poisson regression to examine the association of self-reported binge drinking with VBI, measured via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), in 817 older AIs …
Design and Methods of a Participatory Healthy Eating Intervention for Indigenous Children
Objective: To increase vegetable and fruit intake, reduce body mass index (BMI), and improve parental blood pressure among American Indian families. Design: Randomized, wait-list controlled trial testing a multi-level (environmental, community, family, and individual) multi-component intervention with data collection at baseline and 6 months post-intervention. Setting: Tribally owned and operated Early Childhood Education (ECE) programs in the Os…
Impacts of Covid-19 on a Food Security Study with the Baltimore Native Community
Urban American Indian/Alaska Native peoples experience disproportionate levels of food insecurity when compared to the general US population. Through a collaborative research partnership between Native American Lifelines of Baltimore, an Urban Indian Health Program, and a Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health student-led research team, food security was identified as a priority issue. A sequential explanatory mixed methods study was pla…
Native opportunities to stop hypertension
Introduction: American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) adults experience disproportionate cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality compared to other races, which may be partly attributable to higher burden of hypertension (HTN). Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) is a high-impact therapeutic dietary intervention for primary and secondary prevention of CVD that can contribute to significant decreases in systolic blood pres…
Development and Implementation of a Hybrid Online and In-Person Food Sovereignty and Nutrition Education Curriculum for Native American Parents
The Food Resource Equity and Sustainability for Health (“FRESH”) study is an Indigenous-led intervention to increase vegetable and fruit intake among Native American children. As part of this study, we developed a hybrid (online and in-person) food sovereignty and nutrition education curriculum for the parents of these children. This 16-week curriculum was developed to promote household- and community-level healthy eating and food sovereignty pra…
“I don’t remember any of us … having diabetes or cancer”
Past and present structures of settler colonial historical oppression aimed to erase and replace Indigenous peoples have profoundly disrupted U.S. Indigenous foodways. The purpose of this article is to use the Indigenous Framework of Historical Oppression, Resilience, and Transcendence (FHORT) to understand U.S. Indigenous peoples' experiences and perceptions of how (a) foodways have changed within the context of settler colonial historical oppre…
The Worsening Problem of Food Insecurity
This JAMA Forum discusses disparities and food insecurity among underserved populations in the US, the actions being taken by states, tribal actions, and additional steps to ensure food and nutrition security
Impact of Nutrition Interventions on Vitamin and Mineral Intake among Native American Children and Parents
The Food Resource Equity for Sustainable Health (FRESH) study started as a tribe community-based nutrition education program in 2018, implemented with children and parents in Osage Nation. The purpose of the FRESH study is to examine the effects of a farm-to-school family intervention on diet. The FRESH study did not directly intervene on adult caregiver participants' diet, and, as far as we know, it is the first of its kind to implement a farm-t…
Community-Engaged Development of Strengths-Based Nutrition Measures
Mainstream approaches to nutrition typically focus on diet consumption, overlooking multi-dimensional aspects of nutrition that are important to American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities. To address health challenges faced by AI/AN communities, strengths-based measures of nutrition grounded in community worldviews are needed. In collaboration with AI/AN communities in Baltimore and Minneapolis, we developed the Indigenous Nourishment Scal…
Toward Community-Engaged Health Care to Bridge Public Health With Clinical Care
The United States currently has a health care system that is overly focused on the provision of sick care, which can be defined as health care that prioritizes the management and 1300
Why Achieving Health Equity for Indigenous Peoples Requires Indigenizing the Social Determinants of Health
Exploring Definitions, Correlates, and Solutions to Food Insecurity during Covid-19
A mixed methods community-based participatory research study was conducted with Native American Lifelines of Baltimore to: (1) understand prevalence, correlates, and lived experiences with food insecurity and (2) explore the effects of and potential solutions to food insecurity. An online survey was completed by 250 American Indian and Alaska Native adults, and a subset of survey respondents (N=11) completed interviews. Quantitative analysis reve…
What nourishes us
Objective: To examine the Indigenous Nourishment Scales (INS), a set of community-developed strengths-based measures of nourishment, for psychometric validity and reliability through community-based research with two urban American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities. Design: Cross-sectional survey of health measures and INS. Descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), correlation analysis and regression were used to determine…
Medicine (20 works) · Environmental health (15 works) · Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations (14 works) · Gerontology (12 works) · Political science (12 works) · Nursing (11 works) · Public health (10 works) · Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet (9 works) · Psychology (9 works) · Sociology (8 works)