Wille Stephanie M, Kemp Katherine A, Greenfield Brenna L, Walls Melissa L
Department of Biobehavioral Health & Population Sciences, University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth campus.
J Soc Distress Homeless. 2017;26(1):1-8. doi: 10.1080/10530789.2016.1265211. Epub 2017 Jan 22.
Members of American Indian (AI) communities face many barriers to receiving both mental and physical healthcare. These barriers can have a negative effect on overall health. Barriers are compounded for AIs who are also experiencing homelessness, and AI make up a disproportionate percentage of the homeless population nationwide. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 service providers and 16 homeless participants in a mid-size Midwestern city to identify barriers to care for homeless participants. Key barriers identified in this study for homeless participants were: transportation, phone accessibility, discrimination, and cold and bureaucratic cultures of healthcare systems. Major barriers identified by service providers were: access to care, discrimination and mistrust, and restrictive policies. Given generally higher disease prevalence within the homeless population and health disparities within the AI community, steps should be taken to reduce barriers to healthcare.
美国印第安人（AI）社区的成员在获得心理和身体医疗保健方面面临许多障碍。这些障碍会对整体健康产生负面影响。对于那些同时还面临无家可归问题的美国印第安人来说，障碍更加复杂，而且在全国无家可归人口中，美国印第安人所占比例过高。在中西部一个中等规模的城市，对12名服务提供者和16名无家可归的参与者进行了深入的半结构化访谈，以确定无家可归参与者获得医疗保健的障碍。本研究中确定的无家可归参与者的主要障碍包括：交通、电话获取、歧视以及医疗系统冷漠和官僚的文化。服务提供者确定的主要障碍包括：获得医疗服务、歧视和不信任以及限制性政策。鉴于无家可归人口中疾病患病率普遍较高，以及美国印第安人社区存在健康差距，应采取措施减少医疗保健障碍。
