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Walters, KL, and Simoni, JM (2002). Reconceptualizing Native Women's Health: An “Indigenist” Stress-Coping Model (Links to an external...

The main point of this article is that Native American women's health must be considered in the context of their role as "Fourth World" citizens. This means that they are colonized people subject to a majority population. The authors consider the life stressors on Native American women, including environmental factors, following the model developed by Krieger and others. Krieger has studied the role of discrimination in health outcomes.


The authors also present epidemiological data related to Native American women. Though they suffer from many diseases at the same rate or at a lower rate as other women, they have higher rates of other diseases, such as diabetes, motor vehicle accidents, suicides, alcohol abuse, and others. Native Americans are victims of violence at a rate that is greater than 2.5 times the average rate in the U.S., and Native American women are more likely than other women to be victims of physical and sexual abuse--statistics that are surprising. The authors state that these traumas and the effect of discrimination have effects on Native American women's health, including conditions such as stress levels, hypertension, anxiety, depression, and other conditions. Therefore, Native American women's health outcomes are in part a result of the trauma and discrimination in their lives, not just their genetics and lifestyle choices. 



Reference: 





Krieger N. Embodying inequality: a review of concepts, measures, and methods for studying health consequences of discrimination. Int J Health Serv. 1999;29:295–352.




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