Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Correspondence , Mary G. Email: mgorski hsph. To examine reported racial discrimination and harassment against Native Americans, which broadly contribute to poor health outcomes.
We calculated the percent of Native Americans reporting discrimination in several domains, including health care. More than one in five Native Americans 23 percent reported experiencing discrimination in clinical encounters, while 15 percent avoided seeking health care for themselves or family members due to anticipated discrimination. A notable share of Native Americans also reported they or family members have experienced violence 38 percent or have been threatened or harassed 34 percent.
Discrimination and harassment are widely reported by Native Americans across multiple domains of their lives, regardless of geographic or neighborhood context. Results suggest modern forms of discrimination and harassment against Native Americans are systemic and untreated problems. Native Americans have experienced worse health outcomes than whites since Europeans first arrived in the Americas more than years ago.
Previous research suggests that these experiences have had massive and cumulative effects on the physical, emotional, and psychological health of Native American individuals and communities. Prior research indicates that for some US minorities, socioeconomic status, geographic variation, and neighborhood conditions may moderate the relationships between race, discrimination, and health. For example, discrimination research suggests that for blacks and Latinos, higher income and education levels are associated with greater reported discrimination.
Increasing evidence about the health risks associated with experiencing discrimination suggests an updated examination of minority groups is warranted, to complement ongoing national policy work on these issues. This study brings a public health perspective to the complexity and pervasiveness of discrimination in the United States today, alongside complementary articles in this issue of Health Services Research.
