American Indian Health Care in the US

American Indian Health Care Service in the United States

The Indian Health Service (IHS) is one of many organizations that shape the health of our communities. The Indian Health Service is a federally funded agency that is responsible for providing health services to American Indians and Alaskan Natives (Indian Health Service, 2006). The overarching goal of the Indian Health Service is one that encapsulates what the World Health Organization (WHO) defines as health and even goes a little further to include spiritual health. According to the WHO, health is defined as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (World Health Organization, 2006) and similarly, the goal of IHS is “to raise the physical, mental, social and spiritual health of Americans and Alaskan Natives” (Indian Health Service, 2006).

Access to Health Care

Although, health care services are provided free of charge to Alaskan Natives and American Indians in the United States, access to these services are not always accessible to American Indians and Alaskan Natives (AI/AN) living in remote and desolated areas. Generally speaking, most AI/AN’s live on ancestral homelands and many times IHS facilities are not located in these small local communities.  

The Indian Health Service is largely broken down into 12 regions throughout the United States (McKenzie F. James, 2008). There are currently 33 IHS hospitals, 59 health centers and 50 health stations located throughout the US. Recently, there has been an increase of Urban Indian health projects to supplement the low number of IHS facilities (Castor ML, 2006). Additionally, health referral systems are now in place to assist AI/AN’s living in urban areas without access to IHS facilities.

Quality of Care

IHS offers free health, medical, and dental care to AI/AN’s but not always will you find the kind of quality and training demanded by paying customers. Many times doctors, nurses, and physicians working in these places are only there for short periods of time and do not spend enough time at their working locations to develop the kind of cultural respect and understanding of their patients needs.

The quality of care is largely dependent on money set aside for the medical services offered. The IHS has an annual budget of 3.8 billion dollars however the high need for specialized medical care and services throughout IHS is usually not met by the limited medical dollars set aside by the federal government. Furthermore, the amount of money set aside for Indian Health Services has not kept up with the rate of inflation which ultimately decreases the amount of medical care dollars per capita for AI/AN’s (Zuckerman S, 2004).

Conclusion

Access to adequate health care for American Indians and Alaskan Natives is pressing issue today and with its growing population, the need to for quality health care is vitally important. Many benefits AI/ANs’ receive are only relative to their access to health facilities and largely dependent on the United States federal budget set aside for its Native American population. Granted some AI/ANs’ can afford health insurance, addressing the issues of quality health care and access to health care are two main issues that AI/ANs’ face in the Health Care arena.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

Indian Health Service. (2006). Retrieved January 23, 2013, from Indian Health Service Fact Sheet: http://www.ihs.gove/PublicInfo/PublicAffairs/Welcome_Info/ThisFacts.asp

World Health Organization. (2006). Retrieved January 23, 2013, from World Health Organization: http:/www.who.int/about/en/

Castor ML, S. M. (2006). A nationwide population-based study identifying health disparities between American Indians/Alaska Natives and the general populations living in select urban counties. Am J Public Health, 50-62.

McKenzie F. James, P. R. (2008). An Introduction to Community Health. Sudbury: Jones and Barlett Publishers, LLC.

Zuckerman S, H. J.-B. (2004). Health service access, use, and insurance coverage among American Indians/Alaska Natives and Whites: what role does the Indian Health Service play? Am J Public Health, 48-54.