Forquera R. Issue brief: urban Indian health. Menlo Park, CA: Henry J. Kaiser Foundation; 2001.
This issue brief describes the health status of the large and growing urban Indian population, along with major federal health programs and federal-state programs that are available to improve Native Americans' access to needed health services. More than half of individuals who identified themselves as solely American Indian in the 2000 census now live in urban areas. Urban Indians in a given city often include many different tribes, and the population tends to be dispersed throughout the area rather than living in particular neighborhoods. Urban Indians may travel back to their home reservations to maintain cultural connections. Overall, the conditions in which urban Indians find themselves put them at great physical and emotional risk for health problems. About one-third of American Indians are uninsured, and only around 1 percent of the Indian Health Service budget goes to urban programs for American Indians. There is limited information on urban Indians' health status, but their risk for infant mortality, alcoholism, alcohol-related deaths, tuberculosis, diabetes, and other diseases and conditions is higher than that of other Americans and similar to that of American Indians living on or near reservations. The authors recommend policies to increase urban Indians' access to health care.
 |
 |
 |