The Health of Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islanders

Mind, body and spirit are the foundation of the Navajo community. The Navajo culture is known to be very primitive and reserved. This could cause some complications in the health care field. Their basic lifestyle may lead to several health complications, belief in prayer and evil spirits is prominent, they believe that the role of a physician is to be a partner in their healing, there are several nursing practices that need to be considered when caring for a Navajo patient, and as a nurse it is important to treat these people with respect even if their ways may seems unorthodox.

There has been some major improvement in the health and wellbeing of Indigenous people in the past years, there is still some health issues that remain a problem in the indigenous community which still increase the percentage of mortality and morbidity among the group. As of June 30, 2011, there was an estimated 669,900 Indigenous people across Australia which represent the 3% of total Australian population, where the majority of indigenous Australian live in metropolitan or regional and 8% lives in remote areas of Australia according to Australian Bureau of Statistics (2013). The death rates for indigenous population are much higher compare to non-indigenous population across all age group and largest contributory cause of death are circulatory diseases (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2011).

Since the arrival of Columbus in 1492, American Indians have been in a continuous struggle with diseases. It may not be small pox anymore, but illnesses are still haunting the native population. According to statistics, Native Americans have much higher rates of disease than the overall population. This includes a higher death rate from alcoholism, tuberculosis, and diabetes than any other racial or ethnic group. Recent studies by Indian health experts show that diabetes among Indian youth ages 15-19 has increased 54% since 1996 and 40% of Indian children are overweight. Even though diabetes rates vary considerably among the Native American population, deaths caused from diabetes are 230 percent greater

Medicine, to the modern day world, is a way of healing the sick and helping people experience life to their full potential. It is an ingredient of a culture that allows the culture to survive through decades and centuries at a time. But what if the medicine that we know as helpful is actually harmful? When a child cuts their knee the first thing an adult would do is check the scrape and then assess the damage. After assessing the damage, the adult would normally plan a course of treatment to ensure the child would not lose a limb in the near future. After treating the child with a mixture of antibacterial wipes, bandages and ice cream, what if the child is not better, but actually worse? That is what happens when you compare the medical practices of the Hmong to the medical practices of the Americans, both cultures believe that the others will cause more damage than good in respect to healing the soul and body.

Among the different ethnic and socioeconomic groups, each is associated with health disadvantages. While some have more advantages than others, the most disadvantaged groups are among the Blacks and Native Americans. These two groups have the highest rates of several health disparities. The two groups, Blacks, and Native Americans have the highest rates in infant mortality and cardiovascular disease. Research has shown several key risk factors that are associated with these high rates. Some include poor environment, lack of access to care, physical inactivity, tobacco use, and high blood pressure. These health disparities and disadvantages are what causes Blacks and Native Americans to have higher mortality rates.

Native Americans have the highest rates of obesity and diabetes in the United States. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Native Americans are 60% more likely to be obese and are over twice as likely to have diabetes than the general population. These numbers are even higher for Southwest Native Americans. But their diet is very similar to the rest of modern society. So why do Native Americans suffer these conditions at higher rates than the general population? The answer may be found in new research that is beginning to point to a genetic cause for these conditions. In a study by Peggy Halpern, Ph.D. for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, she found that historically Native Americans of the

This comprehensive assessment identifies how health disparities are intertwined with the socioeconomic condition the Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Peoples (NHPP) live in. Factors such as education, wages, affordable housing, and access to health care have a profound effect to on the lives of NHPP. Among these factors, low educational achievement results in lower wages that affect the individual's (of family's) access to housing, healthcare, and a better lifestyle. Effects of low educational attainment are further supported by a study completed by the Virginia Commonwealth University Center on Society and Health (2011) wherein it states, "People with fewer years of education have worse health than those with more education - even when

Hispanic Americans are considered the leading ethnic minority in the United States of America composing 17.4% or 55.4 million of the national population with calculations proposing an increase to 28.6% or 119 million by 2060 (Velasco-Mondragon, Jimenez, Palladino-Davis, Davis, & Escamilla-Cejudo, 2016). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2015), Hispanic Americans primarily suffer from chronic diseases processes that primarily stem from obesity and uncontrolled high blood pressure that can lead to heart disease and cancer that as a result affect other organs. A study by Kim-Godwin & McMurry

The arrival of missionaries on the Hawaiian Islands definitely made an impact on Hawaiian society and ways of life. When the missionaries arrived on the islands of Hawaii it was an interesting transition period of Hawaiian history, the ancient Kapu system was abolished and there was an excellent opportunity for the people to be converted into Christianity. The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions made their voyage to Hawai’i on October 23rd, 1819. This group contained 17 missionaries with the goal to teach about God’s word and the Christian religion, converting Hawaiian into western civilization, and to teach natives how to write Hawaiian (something that has not been done before by other foreigners). Their journey took 6 months

Healthcare is an ever changing entity with an ever changing population of clients. In current day 2016, the United Sates has become a melting pot of many different cultural backgrounds, which has led to changes within the system to accommodate the patient base. Unfortunately, not all changes have been able to effectively reach any and all persons from every background. We still see language and cultural barriers that have direct correlation to the inability to seek healthcare and or the ability to change cultural perspectives to ensure healthy lifestyles. Within this paper, the health of American Indian and Alaskan Native populations will be discussed along with the barriers to care and the

The societal factors that may have contributed to the health of Native Americans today are the discrimination, isolation, and poor quality of life that they experienced not only in the past but still experience today. Although we might not hear about the discrimination or poor living conditions Native Americans experience in the news, it doesn't mean that it doesn’t exist. Native Americans experience discrimination everyday where even something as simple as getting or maintaining a job can be difficult. Employers seem to only want to hire White/Caucasian applicants and only hire Native Americans when they're the only option. In today’s poor economy where it’s hard in general to get a job, it seems Native Americans have one more thing stacked

Responding to the high risk of hypertension among the Hispanics requires certain changes in lifestyle to keep them safe. The lifestyle changes have been confirmed to reduce the chances of developing complications related to hypertension but Hispanics are faced with a number of hurdles which makes it hard for them to fully utilize these changes. Some of the major reasons making it hard for Hispanics to adopt lifestyle changes are; lack of suitable transport services to enable them access health care, language barriers when communicating with others and lack of the required health insurance coverage. Due to these factors, early diagnosis of the condition is not possible in this population and most of them will end up suffering the later consequences which are in most cases severe ("Hispanics and Heart Disease, Stroke", 2016).

The biggest thing I've noted, not only about the Hmong, but also concerning other ethnicities and cultures is that there is a lack of substantial research focused on specific health concerns, and treatment on seemingly anyone that isn't a straight white male. Many factors can of course contribute to this for instance in the Hmong's case, and in the Lee's case, the clash between cultures and health practices can often make it hard for research to be done if an illness is only found and treated by Western medicine as a last stop and only once it has progressed.I was surprised to learn in the article "Health Issues for the Hmong Population in the US" that the "Hmong populations present signs and symptoms of cancer at an earlier age than the general

Similarly, David Wakefield & Cynthia Hudley (2009) supports the notion of family, cultural, and racial identity as major developmental factors for mental health and well-being whereby they argue that Identity and the development of cultural identity can translate to positive mental health outcomes. Additionally, Tara Yosso (2006) supports the idea that family and culture are imperative by highlighting the relationship culture plays to Pierre Bourdieu’s (Gauntlett, 2011) theory of social capital as a main resource that is used by an individual or group. Bourdieu (Gauntlett, 2011) postulates that capital by virtue of networking relationships of acquaintance and recognition can be an exclusionary mechanism locking out what is considered the inferior social capital and maintaining the dominant discourse of a

The aim of these reports is to identify and assess the significant effects of self-reported racial discrimination and deprivation on health inequalities between Maori (indigenous peoples) and non-Maori. The methods used were from data collected from the 2002-2003 New Zealand Health Survey (Harris, Tobias, Jefferies, Waldegrave, Karlsen & Nazroo, 2006) and 2006-2007 New Zealand Health Survey, based on cancer screening and other negative experience within the health care sector (Harris, Cormack, Tobias, Yeh, Talamaiao, Minster &Timutimu, 2012). The data was to assess the occurrence of reported experiences of racial discrimination in the health care sectors between Maori and non-Maori. Statistics show that New Zealand’s main ethnic group consist of approximately (80%) being of European ethnicity, (15%) Maori, (7%) Pacific Islanders and (7%) Asian (Harris, et al., 2006). Participants were asked to respond to five primary questions about unfair treatment by a health professional, direct or indirect verbal and physical attacks, unfair treatment when purchasing or renting a property and treatment at work. It was important to identify the differences of treatment and the inequality of health care received by different ethnicities. The results of discrimination found that Maori were more likely to experience some sort of racial discrimination in three or more of the settings than non-Maori (Harris, et al,. 2006). Racial has the conception of a superior race but discrimination can