Category: Indigenous Health

Medical School on Cherokee Reservation Will Soon Send Doctors to Tribal, Rural Areas

Native Americans and rural residents are underrepresented in medical schools. But in this new program, 25% of students are Indigenous and half are from rural areas.

Tribal Health Workers Aren’t Paid Like Their Peers. See Why Nevada Changed That.

Community health workers, who often help patients get to their appointments and pick up prescriptions for them, have increasingly been recognized as an integral part of treating chronic illnesses. But state-run Medicaid programs don’t always reimburse them equally, usually excluding those who work on tribal lands.

Fresh Produce Is an Increasingly Popular Prescription for Chronically Ill Patients

Fresh produce prescription programs are getting a boost in Montana as a way of helping people with chronic conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure. The approach may be a model for other rural states to promote healthy eating in food deserts.

It Takes a Village: Foster Program Is a New Model of Care for Indigenous Children

A foster care program on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota is attracting attention from officials elsewhere as they search for ways to reduce trauma inflicted on Indigenous families, who’ve faced generations of high rates of family separation.

Blackfeet Nation Challenges Montana Ban on Vaccine Mandates as Infringement on Sovereignty

The Montana tribe has entered a legal fight over whether the state has the right to enforce a prohibition of vaccine mandates on its reservation.

Climate Change Magnifies Health Impacts of Wildfire Smoke in Care Deserts

Smoke- and ash-filled air can trigger or exacerbate severe respiratory conditions. But the medical specialists who treat these illnesses are often scarce where they are most in need.

‘American Diagnosis’: When Indigenous People Move to Cities, Health Care Funding Doesn’t Follow

When Indigenous people started moving to cities in large numbers after World War II, many found hardship and discrimination there … but not the health care they were entitled to. Episode 12, the season finale, explores the efforts of urban Indian health providers to close those gaps by providing affordable, culturally competent care.