ent survival rates are poor. A good deal of this is attributed to the need for improved screening practices.
System of Health Care That Addresses Needs
One solution to the health care problems of Native Americans is to make targeted and specific reforms in the existing health care system, reforms that specifically address and meet, at least in part, those particular health care needs of the Native American population. Based on research conducted to examine the health care problems of the population, the following reforms are suggested:
1. In the area of mental health, it is recommended that the system begin to provide increased consultation and supervision to native outreach and other mental health workers; this because a review of the general research on mental health services models conducted by Barlow and Walkup (1998) indicated that this reform is a more acceptable and potentially more effective use of scarce resources.
2. In the area of prevention of diseases common in the community, it is recommended that the system develop educational programs that focus on behaviors (e.g., nutrition) that can operate to prevent the disease; this is recommended because Kaur (1996) observed that the high incidence of cancer among Native Americans can be substantially decreased when educational efforts focus on increasing awareness of cancer risks and symptoms, fatalism, and lack of access to screening services. Kaur also suggests that cancer survivors in native communities be used as resources to educate others, raise cancer awareness, and most importantly prove that cancer is not always fatal. Further, there are indications that education given to one family member can help him or her to recognize the symptoms in another thereby increasing the chances that the other person will receive timely services.
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