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The HHS Office of Minority Health (OMH) is proud to celebrate the rich history and traditions of American Indian and Alaska Natives (AIAN). This month, OMH will focus on the health disparities that continue to challenge the health of AIAN populations, especially as they continue to confront the COVID-19 pandemic and influenza season.
In addition to persistent health disparities, AIAN populations also face the following issues when seeking medical care:
- Cultural barriers
- Geographic isolation
- Inadequate sewage disposal
- Low income.
Last month, OMH announced the grantees for the State/Tribal/Territorial Partnership Initiative to Document and Sustain Disparity-Reducing Interventions. This initiative aims to address these health disparities and help improve health outcomes for AIAN populations and other racial and ethnic minority populations. Visit our Native American Heritage Month observance page for more information, downloadable materials and health resources.
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According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), diabetes is one of the most common chronic conditions in school-age youth in the United States. This year’s theme, “Taking Care of Youth Who Have Diabetes,” focuses on the needs and challenges youth face when managing their diabetes care.
According to NIDDK, different kinds of students require different kinds of help to manage their diabetes:
- Toddlers and preschool-age children need help with all aspects of diabetes care.
- Some elementary school-age students can monitor their glucose, but most will need help from adults.
- Middle school- and high school-age students should be able to manage their diabetes themselves, depending on how long they have had diabetes and their level of maturity.
Help spread awareness and visit the NIDDK website for resources, graphics, tools and more.
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Understanding your family health history not only benefits you, but the health of everyone in your family. The CDC encourages everyone to collect their family health history and has tips for how to get started:
- Talk to your family.
- Ask questions.
- Record the information and update it whenever you learn new family health history information.
- Share family health history information with your doctor and other family members.
Take time this month to begin the conversation with your family and take steps to act on your family history by using the My Family Health Portrait web tool.
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According to the CDC, Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia and research suggests memory problems are typically one of the first warning signs of cognitive loss. OMH joins federal partners this month in raising awareness of this disease and its impact on the health of racial and ethnic minorities.
Among AIAN and racial and ethnic minority populations:
- 1 in 5 AIAN adults aged 45 years and older are experiencing Subjective Cognitive Decline.
- 1 in 8 African American adults aged 45 years and older are experiencing Subjective Cognitive Decline.
- 1 in 9 Hispanic adults aged 45 years and older are experiencing Subjective Cognitive Decline.
OMH supports the work of our federal partners addressing the challenges and supporting populations with a high burden of the disease such has the Healthy Brain Initiative.
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