Today was our last day to visit the Cherokee Indian
Hospital. The most critical issues that
the culture encounters daily involve the mistrust that occurs with the
healthcare system. It is hard for the people
in this culture to trust the system because of all of the awful things that
happened to them through the Federal Government healthcare system. We toured the dental care portion of the
hospital today and it is a fully functional dentistry office. However, it was said that the office does not
see the majority of the members of the tribe because of the fear of the healthcare
system. Unfortunately, years ago, Cherokee
children were not numbed all the way before procedures and that made those
procedures unnecessarily painful. This
has created a mistrust and fear among the older part of the community. I have observed that some prevalent conditions
among the pediatric community here are asthma and obesity. I have also observed that among the adult
community here the most prevalent conditions are obesity and diabetes. The condition of diabetes is related to the
genetics and diet of the Cherokee people.
Unfortunately, a lot of babies in this area are born prematurely and I
think that has led to the big number of asthma cases in children. The nurses at Cherokee Indian Hospital
educate the patients about how to handle and prevent illnesses. There is a native my plate hand out, similar
to my plate, that is given to discuss nutrition with children and their
families to combat obesity and diabetes.
The nurses in primary care also discuss oral healthcare and they the
children toothbrushes, toothpaste, and dental floss during their visit. The state of North Carolina also has a
vaccine program that ensures free vaccines to the children. This is a great health promotion initiative. I wish that this model of healthcare, for the
people and by the people, could be the status quo across the country. It is my belief that healthcare is a right
for all people and not a privilege. This
is a huge factor with the Cherokee healthcare system, it is the right of their people
to receive free healthcare.
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