Step 1: Gather information and identify preliminary issues.
In this case, the most important issues are inadequate access to health care, environmental hazards, behavioral risk factors, and building trust with the Narragansett community. The first three issues are important because they directly affect the health of the Native American population. Additionally, building trust with the Narragansett tribe in order to perform research and collaborative planning is the key to designing successful care programs specifically for the Narragansett Indian Tribe. The first key issue is regarding Native Americans’ insufficient access to health care. With the percentage of unemployment within the Native American population in Rhode Island as high as 26 percent (The Office of Minority Health, 2015), “one-third of Native American adults said there was a time in the past year when they could not afford to see a doctor” (Parrish, 2012). There is not many people from the tribe can afford health access due to the fact that 42.2 percent of the Native American population is living in poverty (The Office of Minority Health, 2015). Aside from inadequate access to health care, some of the environmental health hazards that Native Americans are often exposed to include “surface and groundwater pollution, air pollution, hazardous waste, highway run-off, illegal dumping, lead paint, radon, and biological and chemical contamination of drinking water” (Parrish, 2012). According to the Environmental
The Cherokee nation of Oklahoma is one of the many native Indian tribes that place a great emphasis on health care. There are noticeable efforts in improving the health system in the Cherokee nation as well as the health of its individuals. For a long time, the Cherokee nation has engaged in successful health care experiences such as building health centers, launching health programs or even individually engaging in the health field to improve the overall healthcare in the nation.
Native American people have a unique struggle in society. This stems from cultural epidemics like drug addiction, alcoholism, obesity, and rampant suicide, but also systemic racism and a sort of cultural lag. This is not meant to be a critique of culture, simply an observation of the condition of the families I have helped serve over the course of this internship. To be “Native” has become a slew of stereotypical representations. Stereotypes do not represent reality, but they do affect how individuals view themselves, and limit their ability to become anything but what they are expected to be. This is called the self-fulfilling prophecy. If Native American children grow up in a closed network, such as a reservation or a boundary, they are presented
Though American Indians are enjoying an independent public health system with above $3 billion funds provided by Congress annually for delivering healthcare services to them, still figure and facts on health status of American Indians reveal that they are facing many difficulties and have to suffer from diverse type of illness and disease at a misappropriate level. Since long it was identified by medical communities that there are wide spread diseases diabetes, alcoholism, tuberculosis, suicide, unintentional injuries, and other health conditions among American Indian and they are dying of these diseases at shocking rates (American Heart Association [AHA], 2010). Through this essay I want to discuss the healthcare status of American Indians in the perspective of their culture as how it impacted and lead to develop mistrust between amongst the medical community and American Indians.
Physicians, nurses, specialists, and other qualified medical personnel are provided to care for and treat many patients each day. Unfortunately, the number of patients exceeds the available medical personnel and appointment slots. Another problem for patients is the availability of service to the tribal area. Many Indians live in remote areas and do not possess the ability to seek medical attention because of lack of transportation resources. This is a major problem for many Native Americans, as many patients will not seek medical treatment and services until it becomes a medical emergency. For example, many obstetric patients will only receive two or three prenatal visits, or many patients will remain ill or only seek treatment after the illness has progressed to a more serious condition. Aronovitz, (2005).
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the health status of the American Indian/ Alaskan Native (AI/AN). A comparison and contrast of AI/ANs with the national average regarding the health status such as heart disease and strokes will be presented. Multifactorial barriers limiting health, and the overall factors affecting health within this population are identified. Current health status will be presented including health promotion and disparities among this US population. Primary, secondary, and tertiary health promotions will be discussed along with one approach to promoting health offered.
It is no secret that the Native American and Alaska Native (NA/AN) population is one of the most (if not, the most) overlooked and underserved communities in America. Perhaps because of their small numbers, rural habitats, or general neglect and antagonism by the part of the United States government (or a combination of all of these), extreme disparities in health exist among NA/AN communities. The detrimental effects that colonial settling and industrialization have had on the NA/AN lifestyle are obvious and well-documented. So too, are the physical health disparities that plague NA/ANs (diabetes, tuberculosis, obesity, etc). However, less data is readily available on the mental health challenges that NA/AN populations face. Furthermore, even
It is no secret that the Native American and Alaska Native (NA/AN) population is one of the most overlooked and underserved communities in America. The physical health disparities that plague NA/ANs (diabetes, tuberculosis, obesity, etc) are well-documented.1 However, less data is readily available on the mental health challenges that NA/AN populations face. Recent news has highlighted the pressing need to study these issues, especially in light of the spike in suicides among youth occurring on NA/AN reservations.2 Furthermore, even less information is available with regards to NA/AN children and the mental health disparities they face, although more literature has been published in the last two decades that provide new insights into this issue.3
As with many races and ethnicities, Native Americans have had the front row seat in social injustices related to gender and race from the social institutions in the United States. Native Americans faced much discrimination along with other groups when it came to educational institutions and businesses. In education, many young children had lower math and writing skills leading to fewer high school diplomas (Sarche & Spicer, 2008). In labor, Native Americans had high unemployment rates and a lower labor force than the rest of the demographic population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2006). They also have problems with poverty since more than twenty-five percent of this group live below the poverty line (U.S. Census Bureau, 2006). Additionally, there are high rates of violent victimization and contributing factors such as childhood trauma that lead to overall high deaths. A major contributing factor to these deaths is alcoholism which exceeds the US rates by seven times (Sarche & Spicer, 2008). Many of these statistics indicate great injustice. Furthermore, according to the Indian Health Services, American Indians have lower health and life expectancy when compared to the rest of America (2015). These staggering statistics point out some prevalent inequalities in modern social institutions that exist with Native Americans.
The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma (CN) is one of the many Native American tribes that place a great emphasis on health care. There are noticeable efforts and investments in improving the health care system in the Cherokee Nation. Through the building of health care centers, launching health programs, and individually engaged tribal members in the health field, the Cherokee Nation is striving to improve the overall health care of their people.
Adding to the conversation, academic scholar Daniel Carlock notes, “health disparities between Native Americans and the general population of the United States are a major health concern” (Carlock, Danielle). Hence, an inherent culturally based issue arises where natives are disregarding modern medicine and Western medical practices and instead turning to a traditional holistic approach. Alternative to standard science being the leading factor towards understanding illness and medicine, a cultural barrier divides indigenous peoples perception of the effectiveness of Western science in regards to traditional beliefs. This creates much difficulty for the U.S. government agency the Indian Health Service providing health care and assistance to federally recognized tribes and indigenous peoples. Commenting on Native American health discrepancies, professor James E. Cheek finds “the infectious disease rate in Native Americans populations was significantly higher than that of Whites”(Cheek, James E). This connects Native American cultural beliefs to an increase in medical disparities in relationship to following standard Western medical practices. With tradition ingrained in Native American culture, indigenous medical practices fail to focus on pathology and curing the disease, instead restoring balance between one's mind, body, and spirit is the focus of natives. Consequently, this is leading to standard Western medical practices and medicine being disregarded because Western culture in terms of medicine has been seen to impede important native spirituality beliefs. “The rates for the top ten underlying causes of death were significantly higher for Native American persons than those for whites” (Cheek, James E). This study accounts for the disparities in regards to
The Bureau of Indian Affairs programs serve communities that face great challenges. On Indian reservations, poverty is still commonplace; violence is higher than the national average; and rates of infant mortality, alcoholism, and substance abuse are far in excess of the rest of America. Over the last few decades, great concern has been taken to building an effective relationship between the federal government and Native communities. The federal government has also taken grave care in finding solutions to the challenges facing Indian Territory. In 2015, it was established that there would be focus placed on promoting economic development, providing greater access to healthcare opportunities, improving tribal justice systems, improving educational opportunities, and protecting Native lands and natural resources.
One of the largest issues facing the American Indian's today is that health care. As tribes and urban Indian health centers struggle along with the rest of the country to address the growing numbers of Elders in their communities. There are key issues and special considerations that must be addressed to ensure American Indian Elders are not forgotten in any proposed reform or redesign proposals that the newly formed Medicaid Commission or Congress put forth. By 2030, it is estimated there will be 430,000 American Indian and Alaska Native Elders, constituting 12.2% of the American Indian population (Day, 1993). While the
Finally, Indigenous communities play a significant role in health promotion and adapting health services to the needs of their community. (Health Canada,
According to conducted studies, those at greatest risk due to this emerging public health issue are American Indians within the US population.
The aboriginal population in Canada is growing, and it is known that 56% of Aboriginals live on an rural reserve or community (Government of Canada, 2014; NCCAH, 2011). It is important to note that those Aboriginals living on reserves and in communities have a significantly higher rate of health issues than those living in cities (NCCAH, 2011). This stems from the limited access to healthcare that Aboriginal rural areas receive (NCCAH, 2011). The lack of healthcare causes higher numbers in diseases, conditions, and disorders among the Aboriginal people of Canada (NCCAH, 2011).