Health Disparities
By: Kendra Gray
The Native American population is diverse, geographically dispersed, and economically disadvantaged. Disease patterns among American Indians are strongly associated with the adverse consequences of poverty, limited access to health services, and cultural dislocation. Inadequate education, high rates of unemployment, discrimination, and cultural differences all contribute to unhealthy lifestyles and disparities in access to health care for many American Indian and Alaska Native people.
Compared with other Americans, Indians experience disproportionately high mortality from:
Underlying Causes of Health Disparities: Income and Education:
Inequalities in income and education underlie many health disparities in the US. Income and education are intrinsically related and often serve as proxy measures for each other. In general, population groups that suffer the worst health status are also those that have the highest poverty rates and the least education. Disparities in income and education levels are associated with differences in the occurrence of death and illness, including heart disease, diabetes, obesity, elevated blood lead level, and low birth weight. Higher incomes permit increased access to medical care, enable people to afford better housing and live in safer neighborhoods, and increase the opportunity to engage in health-promoting behaviors. (US DHHS, 2000).
HEALTH DISPARITY FACTS:
• American Indian children and youth are more than twice as likely to die in the first four years of life as is the general population, and they are twice as likely to die through the age of 24. (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2002).
• American Indians born today have a life expectancy that is almost six
years less than that of the US all-races population. (Indian Health Service, 2002b).
• The top five leading causes of death among American Indians are coronary artery disease, cancer, accidents and unintentional injuries, diabetes mellitus, and cerebrovascular disease. (CDC, 2001f).
Suggestions for Change:
- Bring more Native Americans into the healthcare profession (Require medical schools to have a certain number of spots in their incoming class reserved for students who are Native American.)
- Provide scholarships to Native American children to encourage them to go to college to receive an education.
-Build clinics closer to and or on the reservations.
Compared with other Americans, Indians experience disproportionately high mortality from:
- alcoholism
- tuberculosis
- diabetes
- injuries
- suicide
- homicide
Underlying Causes of Health Disparities: Income and Education:
Inequalities in income and education underlie many health disparities in the US. Income and education are intrinsically related and often serve as proxy measures for each other. In general, population groups that suffer the worst health status are also those that have the highest poverty rates and the least education. Disparities in income and education levels are associated with differences in the occurrence of death and illness, including heart disease, diabetes, obesity, elevated blood lead level, and low birth weight. Higher incomes permit increased access to medical care, enable people to afford better housing and live in safer neighborhoods, and increase the opportunity to engage in health-promoting behaviors. (US DHHS, 2000).
HEALTH DISPARITY FACTS:
• American Indian children and youth are more than twice as likely to die in the first four years of life as is the general population, and they are twice as likely to die through the age of 24. (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2002).
• American Indians born today have a life expectancy that is almost six
years less than that of the US all-races population. (Indian Health Service, 2002b).
• The top five leading causes of death among American Indians are coronary artery disease, cancer, accidents and unintentional injuries, diabetes mellitus, and cerebrovascular disease. (CDC, 2001f).
Suggestions for Change:
- Bring more Native Americans into the healthcare profession (Require medical schools to have a certain number of spots in their incoming class reserved for students who are Native American.)
- Provide scholarships to Native American children to encourage them to go to college to receive an education.
-Build clinics closer to and or on the reservations.