Health Outcomes

Health disparities persist in the United States, with racial or ethnic minority groups at disproportionate risk of experiencing worse health outcomes. Contributing to health disparities are clinical barriers that occur between patients and health care providers when sociocultural differences are not fully accepted or understood. This has resulted in poor health outcomes due to misunderstanding, value conflicts, and disparate concepts of health and illness.

Current decline in the quality of life for many indigenous population are from the lack of healthcare provisions, environmental protections, historic preservation, and the lack of advocacy for cultural considerations across many generational spans. Culturally responsive is a term used to describe someone who is aware of the norms, behaviors, beliefs, customs, and language related to a population. A culturally responsive health care provider interacts with clients by utilizing a respectful dialogue and formulating plans of care geared towards cultural influences and knowledge of health (Ring et al, 2009). Most indigenous populations pass on information from one generation to the next through storytelling. Written language for the most part came from colonialism. Nurses can profit by providing opportunities for clients to have talking story sessions about health. Storytelling is used by the four indigenous populations addressed in this modules.