skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Native American Health Inequities Often Fly Under the Radar

play audio
Play

Monday, February 5, 2018   

MISSOULA, Mont. – It was when Annie Belcourt was having her own children that she realized some of the insidious ways health disparities for Native Americans reveal themselves.

Belcourt, a psychologist and University of Montana professor who grew up on a Blackfeet Reservation, now studies the care inequities in Native American communities.

Statistics show these communities face greater risks than the general population in just about every health-related category, including cancer, diabetes and suicide.

Belcourt recalls during her own pregnancy, she had to drive four-and-half-hours for prenatal care – a situation not uncommon.

"For people who need dialysis or different types of care, having to travel two to three hours one way to access services is a real barrier, and leads to a lot of people making very difficult decisions, sometimes not being able to afford transportation to medical care,” she points out. “And that has an impact on the whole family and the community."

Even the drive can be dangerous. The rate of motor vehicle deaths for Native Americans is about 2.5 times higher than the general population.

On average, Native Americans live 20 fewer years than whites in Montana, according to state data.

The Indian Health Service (HIS), the primary health care provider for these communities, is in a position to change these trends.

But Belcourt says lack of funding and mismanagement have gotten in the way.

As an example, she says the IHS didn't provide her uncle a follow-up for two years after a spot was found on his lung. By then, the cancer had spread to his brain and he died shortly after.

"I know a lot of people who sometimes wait for years for surgery that's needed or different types of needed interventions, and are told that they're going to have to wait, or they don't have the funding to do it, or they don't have the resources at the hospital to provide the needed medical care," she states.

Belcourt adds that Native American communities also rely on other federal programs and agencies threatened by funding cuts, such as the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicare and Medicaid and Veterans Affairs.

To fill the gap, some are turning to traditional healing methods, and using traditional culture to heal as well.

"There's a lot of hope with regard to thinking about the future and tribal colleges, and bringing back languages and practices, and thinking about how that can improve some of the health inequalities that we see," Belcourt says.

Belcourt wrote about health disparities for Native communities for the website The Conversation.




get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021