Diabetes affects the American Indian and Alaska Native population at almost twice the rate of the general U.S. population. To help end this health epidemic, Congress has committed $150 million per year through fiscal year 2017 for the continued prevention and treatment of this disease. The IHS Special Diabetes Program for Indians provides funding to more than 300 IHS, Tribal and Urban Indian health programs. Read Full Article
This summer, the FDA approved two medications from a new class of drugs called the PCSK9 Inhibitors. These medications lower LDL by 40-60% but have not demonstrated the ability to reduce cardiovascular events. Clinical trials are ongoing to determine if the addition of PCSK9 Inhibitors to Statin therapy will improve outcomes. The medications are well tolerated but very expensive...
The goal of the longitudinal research project being conducted by the American Indian Diabetes Prevention Center is to elicit cultural models of parental/caregiver distress (P/CD) as it evolves over two years of time among those coping with dependents diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes (T1D), and for comparison, Type 2 diabetes (T2D), ages 12-15. Cultural models of distress will be analytically derived from parent/caregiver perspectives on providing care to these young people coping with diabetes. These perspectives will be elicited by unstructured and semi-structured interviews. Their perspectives are inherently formed in the context of their contemporary Oklahoma Choctaw life. This research will be done in a collaborative fashion with the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and characterized by partnership with parents/caregivers participating in the research. The findings will be used to promote improved caregiver coping, health of dependents, and provision of new practice-relevant facts of today’s social life for health care providers to Oklahoma Choctaw people.
View the five (5) digital stories created through this grant project at: http://aidpc.ouhsc.edu/DigitalStories.asp
The Indian Health Service (IHS) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Nike USA, Inc., to collaborate on the promotion of healthy lifestyle choices for American Indians and Alaska Natives. The goal is to use the strengths and expertise of both organizations to improve and enhance the health and fitness of American Indians and Alaska Natives across the nation.