Second National
Conference on
Quality Health Care for Culturally Diverse Populations:
Strategy and Action for Communities, Providers, and a Changing Health
System
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Second National
Conference on |
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| October 11-14, 2000 |
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Wed., October 11 | Th., October 12 | Fr., October 13 | Sat., October 14 | Poster Presentations | ||||||||
1-7. Meeting The Health Needs Of American Indians And Alaska NativesAmerican Indians and Alaska Natives make up less than 2% of the population. Greater than 60% of the population live in urban areas with less than one-third of the American Indians living on reservations. In urban areas they are often referred to as "the invisible minority” and are often misclassified as other racial/ethnic groups. Due to this erroneous misclassification and lack of representation in health care systems (according to the Association of American Indian Physicians there are approximately 855 AI/AN physicians), the needs of American Indians and Alaska Natives are often unmet. Through the development of university-community partnerships, health care Programs can be developed to meet their medical needs. Due to the lack of data, often no resources exist to meet their health care needs. This workshop will discuss the socio-demographics of AI/AN in the US, health disparity areas and solutions to meet the health care need of American Indians in the urban areas including university-community partnerships which seek to:
For example, health problems in this population include high rates of diabetes, hypertension, depression, cervical cancer, otitis media, suicide and injuries. Cardio-vascular disease is noted to be on the rise amongst AI/AN. One of the areas that have the highest impact on AI/AN is the lack of access to quality health care, especially in the urban areas. In reservation-based health care systems, a rationing of care process is often necessary due to the lack of health care dollars to completely cover expenses. To investigate unmet urban Indian health problems, the UCI Center for Health Policy and Research received funding from The California Endowment. The project entitled "Native Voices for Change” is seeking to uncover reasons why this population does not participate in public health insurance programs like Healthy Families, Medicaid and other state-federal subsidized programs. Dr. Williams, MD, MPH a member of the Juaneno-Acjachamen Nation, received her fellowship training at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Dept. of Family Medicine as the first Multi-Cultural Oriented Primary Care and completed a MPH at the New Jersey Graduate Program in Public Health at Rutger's University. After completing her fellowship training she served as the first American Indian Chief Medical Office for the Seminole Tribe until 1997 when she appointed the faculty at the UC-Irvine College of Medicine. Dr. Williams is also the first American Indian women physician to be on faculty in the UC System. Since her appointment, she has developed health and research programs to serve urban American Indians from local tribes (Juaneno-Acjachamen, Gabrielino-Tongva and Chumash) and members of tribes which have migrated to Southern California i.e. Navajo, Sioux and Choctaw. In 1999, she received three years of funding from the American Cancer Society (ACS) to support research, clinical and teaching activities in the area of breast and cervical cancer as a primary care career development fellow. Due to initiatives at the UCI College of Medicine and the UCI Medical Center in conjunction with local Indian organizations, she received the Orange County Business Women of the Year Award from the Orange County Business Journal. Dr. Williams currently manages the Native American health research initiative funded by The California Endowment at the UCI Center for Health Policy and Research entitled "Native Voices for Change” which is assessing the health needs of urban American Indians in the State of California. The Southern California American Indian Health Work Group acts an advisory group to this project. In addition she practices medicine at the UCI Family Health Center, a federally qualified health center where she cares for American Indians and other under-served populations.
Theda J. McPheron Keel, RN, CRRN, MA, MS, CHESis a Register Nurse (RN) with advanced specialization as a rehabilitation nurse (CRRN). She holds additional degrees in sociology, psychology and biology. Ms. McPheron Keel also has a Masters of Arts degree in American Indian Studies and has also earned Masters degrees in Community Health Education and Applied Social research, Sociology/Anthropology. She is presenting pursing a PhD degree in Health Education at the University of Maryland, with emphasis on minority health issues. She owns and operates Cherokee Consulting Services, Inc., which focus on rural minority health care policy, research, and educational materials development. In addition, Ms McPheron Keel has recently formed a nonprofit organization, Wind Hollow Foundation, which focuses on American Indian needs nationally in such areas as health care, economic development, cultural development and preservation and cross-cultural education programs. Ms McPheron Keel teaches lectures, and writes nationally on cultural awareness, health care policy, health education, traditional medicine and spiritual beliefs of American Indians, access issues for minority populations, and community consensus and coalition building. Ms McPheron Keel is an enrolled member of a Southern Cherokee tribe.
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essentials | models
and practices | policy |
legal issues | networking |
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Diversity Rx is sponsored by: |
 The National Conference of State Legislatures |
 Resources for Cross Cultural Health Care |
 Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation |
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