Changing Numbers, Changing Needs American Indian Demography and Public Health (1996) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
1 Introduction
1 Introduction
Pages 1-14
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 1... ...
The papers were intended to summarize the state of knowledge about the demography of the American Indian and Alaska Native populations, about the major health problems they face today, and about their utilization of healthcare. The organizers of the workshop and the authors of the papers also attempted to fill a gap in knowledge about American Indians resulting from the absence of a monograph on the American Indian population based on the 1990 census.
|
From page 2... ...
Two papers summarize and assess our understanding of two major public health issues for Native Americans: alcohol abuse and related diseases and diabetes, especially the adult-onset type. A final paper examines healthcare utilization and expenditures for insurance coverage for American Indians eligible for IHS services.
|
From page 3... ...
Several factors make it difficult to apply conventional social demographic techniques to the American Indian population: (1) American Indians are a relatively small proportion of the total U.S.
|
From page 4... ...
This is a very low error rate, one that was invisible for the numbers published for middle-aged white males, but quite visible for the teenage American Indian widower category. The lesson is not that the Census Bureau did a poor job with the 1950 census, but rather that studying the American Indian population with conventional social, demographic, and epidemiological approaches is difficult.
|
From page 5... ...
His analysis, like Passel's research in the next section, shows that the rapid growth of the American Indian population since the turn of the century is due in part to changes in self-identification, but also to the relatively high fertility of American Indians, currently higher than that of either blacks or whites. This represents a major change from the beginning of the century, when the deprivations of reservation life limited American Indian fertility.
|
From page 6... ...
Currently, over one-half of American Indians reside in urban areas. Ongoing migration is likely to increase the proportion residing in urban areas, though it is unlikely to alter substantially the regional distribution of the American Indian population.
|
From page 7... ...
The first two papers in the third section deal with the economic situation of American Indians in general, on reservations, and in urban areas. The final two papers deal with two components of the American Indian population that are of special concern for health policy: families and the elderly.
|
From page 8... ...
They find further that the extent of single parenthood, never marrying, and divorce is considerably higher on some of the major reservations than among the general Indian population. As Robert John points out, the American Indian elderly population has grown substantially over the last decade.
|
From page 9... ...
Because of the information collected by the IHS for its service population, as well as a federally commissioned study of this population that produced a data set known as the Study of American Indians and Alaska Natives (SATAN) , we know more about how we are meeting the needs of the IHS service population than
|
From page 10... ...
In the short term, safety-net programs, such as accessible healthcare provided through the IHS, are important to ensure that vulnerable individualsparticularly those who live on reservations with poverty rates that sometimes approach or exceed 50 percent are able to receive preventive and other healthcare services. In the long term, improving the situation of American Indians will require substantial efforts to improve their education and health, along with efforts to provide employment opportunities both on and off the reservations.
|
From page 11... ...
Further, at the individual level, Passel and others have shown that each of the last three decennial censuses provides overwhelming evidence that individuals and households shifted to identifying themselves as American Indian from one census to the next. From the perspective of the IHS or any other organization whose mandate is to serve the American Indian population, the potential for shifts in either tribal criteria for membership or individual self-identification means that predicting the size of the population to be served is problematic.
|
From page 12... ...
There is room for a good deal more in-depth research on American Indian economic well-being; fertility and mortality; families, elders, and children; incidence, prevalence, and treatment of specific diseases; and healthcare utilization. Nevertheless, given the uncertainties surrounding the size and characteristics of the American Indian population, policymakers and planners dealing with these populations might best be served by using ranges rather than point estimates for their projections of the potential growth of their service populations.
|
From page 13... ...
Johnson 1992 Validity of demographic characteristics on the death certificate. Epidemiology 3(2)
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.