Ecology of Health Care: The Need to Address Low Utilization in American Indians/Alaska Natives

• Published in: American family physician Vol. 89; no. 3; pp. 217 - 218
• Main Authors: Duwe, Elise A.G., BA, Petterson, Stephen, PhD, Gibbons, Claire, PhD, Bazemore, Andrew, MD, MPH
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Academy of Family Physicians 01.02.2014
• Subjects: American Native Continental Ancestry Group - statistics & numerical data; Health care access; Health services; Health Status Disparities; Healthcare Disparities - ethnology; Humans; Internal Medicine; Native North Americans; Population; Poverty; Primary care; Primary Health Care - utilization; Rural Population; United States; United States; United States > US; Alaska
• ISSN: 0002-838X; 1532-0650

Disparities in health and access to health care continue to persist among the American Indian/Alaska Native population, despite federal efforts to call attention to and address these disparities.1 Policy makers should direct resources to ensure that this population has sufficient access to primary care services and motivation to use those services, which are important factors in the struggle to reduce disparities. Suggested explanations for the disparity include poor access because of rurality and poverty, closer proximity of emergency departments compared with Indian Health Service or tribal health clinics, and poor cultural competence of health care professionals. Policy makers and planners serving this population should continue to invest in primary care solutions to enhance American Indian/Alaska Native access to care and to help reduce their disparities in health and health care.