Analysis of Community Health Assessment: Native American Population

This report presents a comprehensive community health assessment focused on the Native American population. It examines various aspects of their health, including values, beliefs, coping mechanisms, sexuality, roles, self-perception, cognitive and perceptual patterns, sleep, activity levels, elimination patterns, nutritional and metabolic patterns, and health management practices. The assessment highlights key health concerns such as mental health issues, substance abuse, and suicide rates, along with the impact of poverty and unemployment. It identifies the goals of healthcare providers, which include providing culturally sensitive care and improving access to mental healthcare services. The report also outlines nursing diagnoses, planning, interventions, and evaluations related to mental health and coping strategies. Furthermore, it discusses government funding and support systems, such as the Administration for Native Americans (ANA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), aimed at addressing the health needs of Native American communities. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of ongoing evaluation through interviews and physical assessments to monitor the mental and emotional well-being of the Native American population.

Running head: COMMUNITY HEALTH ASSESSMENT 1
The Native American, also known as American Indians are the indigenous inhabitants of the
United States. According to the US Census Bureau, there are almost 4.6 million Native
Americans residing in America today. They are mostly found in the states of Alaska, South
Dakota and Oklahoma. Majority of the Native Americans live in the rural areas, while a small
number of them are exposed to urban civilzations.
Discussion
Assessment
Values/belief Pattern
They values the Mother Earth for whatever they have and pays her gratitude every year and
also belive that the almighty will save them from any difficulty they face. They believe in
respecting people and honouring their human rights(Necefer et al, 2015).
Coping stress tolerant Pattern
Poverty and unemployment are the major stressor for them. They often get into depression
and start consuming alcohol and do substance abuse as they think that will reduce their stress.
There is very less indications of stress management in the community.
Sexuality Reproductive Pattern
The community has a good knowledge on birth control and knows how to use contraceptives.
The pregnant women get access maternal child services through the Indian Health Service,
however there are lots of terms and conditions applied.

COMMUNITY HEALTH ASSESSMENT 2
Roles/Relationship pattern
The Native Americans always prefers living in harmony with all their family members
together. They have huge respect and honor for the broader community members. The
vulnerable group in their community are the poor and malnourished children living in the
remote and isolated areas who does not have proper access to nutrition, resulting in diseases
like Merasmus, Kwashikor etc.
Self perception-self concept pattern
Most of them had negative self concept while others showed abnormality. They did not feel
good about themselves and very low self esteem was noted(Page-Reeves et al, 2019).
Cognitive perceptual
The physical disability rate was high among the women and children who suffered from
malnourishment. Also there were not enough opportunities for education. There are enough
funding resources in the community such as organizations like ANA, several tribal funding
programs organized by state and federal government.
Sleep/ Rest
The Native Americans does not get enough sleep, their sleep duration is less than 6 hours,
which increases their risk of diabetes(Nuyujukian et al, 2016).
Activity/Exercise
The Native Americans are energized when it comes to performing daily activities. They did
not have much leisure time, they always keep themselves engaged with activities. The
transportation system is not well developed and they usually use Canoes made from trees for
transporatation(Fuentes & Lent, 2019).

COMMUNITY HEALTH ASSESSMENT 3
Elimination pattern (Environmental health concern)
The most common air pollutants in the community are radon, secondhand smoke and mold
which triggers asthma in people. Fundings are provided to improve the water disposal system
and to provide safe drinking water in the community. They were highly hygienic people and
always kept them clean by cleaning their mouth, brushing their teeth with charcoal and
chewing mint leaves to freahen their breath.
Nutritional Metabolic Pattern
The Native Americans did not get enough food to lead a healthy life leading to
malnourishment. They did not have access to junk foods and consume foods mainly from the
natural source.
Health Management
There are no adequate availability for proper health management services in their community,
also the health resources organized for them are meagre(Moreno, 2019). The predominant
health problem in their community is tuberculosis, diabetes and mental health issues along
with suicides(Trimble et al, 2019).
The most common health issue found among the Native Americans is mental issue and
suicide(Trimble et al, 2019). The Native Americans experience serious psychological
distress 1.5 times more than the general population of U.S. Although the suicidal rates are
similar to those of whites, there lies a significant disparities among certain age groups.
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among 10-34 years old. The Native Americans
also do substance abuse, alcohol and other drugs. Research findings state that the Native
Americans have the highest rate of mental health issues than the rest of the population. In
2014, approximately 21% of the Native American aged 18 and above are reported with

COMMUNITY HEALTH ASSESSMENT 4
mental issue. Anxiety disorder and depression was the most common mental disorder among
these people
The risk factors for this community is poverty and umemployment. The poor financial
condition of the Native Americans have greatly impacted their well-being. It reduced their
access to health care as most of them could not afford the cost required for the treatment. The
unemployment rates have also increased the suicidal rates among these people due to
depression, unhealthy way of living and substance abuse.
Goal
The goal of the health care providers or nurses is to address the health issues and concerns of
the Native American peoples and provide them high quality, culturally sensityive and
compassionate care and also strengthen their access to mental healthcare services.
Nursing diagnosis, planning and evaluation
The most prevalent health concerns among the Native American people is depression and
mental health issues.
Diagnosis Planning Intervention Evaluation
Ineffective
individual coping
strategies related to
situational crisis as
evidenced by
verbalization of
inabilitity to cope,
reported life stress
To assess the coping
abilities of the
indigenous people
To determine the
degree of damage of
the mental condition
To assist the native
people in managing
Promote self care
and hygiene
Ensure that the
patient get enough
sleep and rest
Educate the patient
about depression and
its effect on health
Patient is able to
assess current
situation accurately
Patient’s ability to
cope up with stress
improved
Patient is aware of
the risk factors of
Hopelessness due to

COMMUNITY HEALTH ASSESSMENT 5
long term life stress and dealing with
stress
To promote well
being of the people
Assess whether the
patient has any
tendency
Interact with the
patient, enquire
about their concerns
and issues or other
social determinants
of health
Provide a calm and
comfortable
environment for the
patient, which will
reduce their stress
depression
Patient has no
suicidal tendency
Fatigue and
weakness due to
anxiety and stress
Implementation
The Australian Government organized funding for indigenous communities, empowering
women, improving education opportunities for the children making them eligible for funding
and can access services from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, wither directly through or
indirectly through grants or contracts. The Administration for Native Americans (ANA)
provides them with financial assistance, advocacy, habitat protection, preparedness for
natural disaster along with human service and welfare. SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Service Administration) identifies the mental health issue among the Native
Indians. It provide efficient and effective delivery of resources and services to ensure that
every Native people have access to prevention, treatment, and recovery support services that
reflect the best of modern science and traditional cultural practices. It uses a culturally
relevant, evidence-based, holistic approach to support Native communities in their self-

COMMUNITY HEALTH ASSESSMENT 6
determination efforts through infrastructure development and capacity building, program
planning, and implementation
Evaluation
The nurses can evaluate the improvement in the mental status of the Native Americans by
interviewing or by conducting direct question-answer sessions with them. They should assess
the mental and emotional stability of the patients, check for alcohol or substance abuse
through physical examination or urine analysis, which detects the presence or absence of drug
components or alcohol in the urine.

COMMUNITY HEALTH ASSESSMENT 7
REFERENCE:
Fuentes, M., & Lent, K. (2019). Culture, health, function, and participation among American
Indian and Alaska Native children and youth with disabilities: An exploratory
qualitative analysis. Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation, 100(9), 1688-
1694.
Langdon, S. E., Golden, S. L., Arnold, E. M., Maynor, R. F., Bryant, A., Freeman, V. K., &
Bell, R. A. (2016). Lessons learned from a community-based participatory research
mental health promotion program for American Indian youth. Health promotion
practice, 17(3), 457-463.
Moreno, M. A. (2019). America’s Forgotten Minority: Indigenous Youth Perspectives on the
Challenges Related to Healthcare Access, Widespread Poverty and Public
Misinformation Regarding Native Americans.
Necefer, L., Wong-Parodi, G., Jaramillo, P., & Small, M. J. (2015). Energy development and
Native Americans: Values and beliefs about energy from the Navajo Nation. Energy
Research & Social Science, 7, 1-11.
Nuyujukian, D. S., Beals, J., Huang, H., Johnson, A., Bullock, A., Manson, S. M., & Jiang, L.
(2016). Sleep duration and diabetes risk in American Indian and Alaska native
participants of a lifestyle intervention project. Sleep, 39(11), 1919-1926.
Page-Reeves, J., Marin, A., Moffett, M., DeerInWater, K., & Medin, D. (2019). Wayfinding
as a concept for understanding success among Native Americans in STEM:“learning
how to map through life”. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 14(1), 177-197.

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Trimble, J. E., King, J., LaFromboise, T. D., & BigFoot, D. S. (2019). American Indian and
Alaska Native Mental Health. In The Massachusetts General Hospital Textbook on
Diversity and Cultural Sensitivity in Mental Health (pp. 127-148). Humana, Cham.