DIVERSITY CONSCIOUSNESS PROJECT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Diversity Consciousness Project

 

 

 

 

 

 

Diversity Consciousness Project

Introduction

This paper is based on diversity consciousness project. The paper is divided into three sections. The first section covers the literature review, while the second section presents a summary of three interviews conducted in the field. The third section is based on an annotated bibliography.

Literature Review

The Native-American population, as a whole, is diagnosed with more diseases and disorders than many other racial/ethnic populations in the United States.

These health disparities are due to a complex set of factors, including genetic, behavioral, and cultural ones, and are often also attributed to a lack of economic resources to obtain healthcare services and/or to a lack of access to quality healthcare. Native Americans frequently rely upon both westernized medicine and traditional Native-American healing techniques for healthcare; when this type of integrated care is not available, it can prevent some of the population from seeking timely healthcare services.

To define the population more specifically, the 2.5 million individuals—or the 0.9 percent of the United States population—who list a wholly American-In-dian/Native-Alaskan ancestry are descended from the original people residing in north, south, or central America, and they have kept an affiliation with one of the 569 federally recognized tribes. The majority of these people live in the western, southwestern, or midwestern states, with the greatest numbers living in Alaska, Arizona, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, or South Dakota. The federal government projects that the American-Indian/Native-Alaskan population will reach over 5 million by 2065, which is estimated to be 1.1 percent of the projected population.

To provide for the healthcare of Native Americans and to advocate for their healthcare needs, the United States federal government established an agency, the Indian Health Service (IHS). Through this agency, efforts are made to prevent disease, with initiatives focused on traditional medicine, elder care, women's health, children and adolescents, injury prevention, domestic violence and child abuse, healthcare financing, state healthcare, sanitation facilities, and oral health. Although this agency was officially granted public health service status in 1988, the federal government had been involved in healthcare legislation for Native Americans for a significantly longer period of time, with mixed results; throughout the early half of the 20th century, health-based legislation was sometimes used as a tool to attempt to terminate any special racial or ethnic designation for Native Americans.

Currently, IHS operates under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HSS), providing healthcare services to approximately 1.5 million people. The majority of Native Americans receiving IHS healthcare services live on or near reservations, although some funding has been earmarked to provide healthcare to Native Americans living in cities.

Approximately 2,700 nurses, 900 physicians, 400 engineers, 500 pharmacists, 300 dentists, and 150 sanitarians work for the IHS, as do nutritionists, health administrators, and medical records personnel. IHS facilities include approximately 150 hospitals, health centers, and healthcare outreach programs. Because of the diversity of the American-Indian/Na-tive-American population and the lack of a strongly coordinated data collection system, it is difficult to provide definitive information about the healthcare needs and status ...