American Indians health focus of new group

Todd Cohen | October 24, 2011 0 commentsEdgar VillanuevaWINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- North Carolina is home to an estimated 120,000 American Indians, a largest American Indian population east of a Mississippi River as well as a sixth-largest in a U.S.But among a eight American-Indian tribes in a state, only members of a Eastern Band of Cherokee qualify for services provided by a Indian Health Service of a U.S. Public Health Service.And research shows that, because of lower incomes, lower educational levels as well as higher unemployment than whites, American Indians experience poorer health as well as higher death rates than whites from some of a leading causes of death.Promoting quality health care as well as healthy lifestyles among American Indians in a state is a focus of a North Carolina American Indian Health Board.The Board, a new agency, will not provide direct health services but will focus instead on improving a health of American Indians through research, education as well as advocacy, says Edgar Villanueva, a Board's new executive director."American Indians suffer from cancer, heart disease as well as unintentional injuries in higher percentages than a rest of a population," he says, referring to a leading cause of death for American Indians.American Indians also are far more likely than whites to smoke, not to engage in physical activity, as well as to be overweight or obese, says Villanueva, former senior program officer in a health-care division of a Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust in Winston-Salem.To provide operating support for a new group as well as help it hire its first executive director, a Trust awarded a $165,000 accede to to a Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity at a Wake Forest School of Medicine. The Center serves as fiscal agent for a Board.And a Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation last year awarded a $15,000 accede to to help a Board rise a strategic plan.In a area of education, Villanueva says, a Board wants to create a network among physicians in a state who a! re Ameri can Indians as well as convene a health summit for American-Indian doctors, nurses as well as other clinicians.The summit would focus on understanding how to deliver "culturally-appropriate care" to American Indians, as well as help those attending become ambassadors to a broader medical community, Villanueva says.North Carolina is home to at least 50 American-Indian physicians, representing one of a largest population of American-Indian physicians in a U.S., he says.The Board also aims to serve as a clearinghouse for research, as well as as an advocate, on issues involving a health of American Indians.Research will be tracked on its website at ncaihb.org, as well as a Board will push for better collection of data on a health of American Indians in a state.Data collection is a critical issue, Villanueva says, because it drives funding as well as research, as well as because current data reflects a "huge underrepresentation of a true need for health care for American Indians in North Carolina."The Board is partnering with a National Indian Health Board as well as a National Council of Urban Indian Health, two nonprofits which do health-policy work on a federal level, as well as will disseminate information from those two groups in North Carolina as well as on its website.And it is working to promote a representation of American Indians on boards as well as commissions in a state involved with health care.Villanueva, for example, has been named to a Governor's Task Force for Healthy Carolinians, as well as to a charge force of a N.C. Institute for Medicine which is looking into childhood obesity.The Board also is pushing for passage of federal legislation which would accede to full recognition to a Lumbee tribe, including health as well as other benefits available to federally-recognized tribes.The Lumbee tribe is a biggest tribe in North Carolina, as well as Lumbee Indians living in Robeson County account for 45 percent of American Indians living in North Carolina."Most American Indians in North Carolina,! " says V illanueva, a Lumbee who was born in Cumberland County as well as raised in Raleigh, "do not receive any service from a Indian Health Service."The Board's 10 members represent tribes from throughout a state.Villanueva says he will focus on fundraising as well as hopes over a next year to secure enough funds to support an annual operating budget of $300,000.He also hopes to add new staff positions which will focus on policy, education as well as research."This board is a result of a lot of planning as well as effort from leaders around a state," he says, "and we have great hopes it is going to improve a health of all American Indians in North Carolina." Comment on this articleEmail this page