Assuntos
Alcoolismo/epidemiologia , Pesquisa Comportamental , Diversidade Cultural , Ética Médica , Indígenas Norte-Americanos/estatística & dados numéricos , Mudança Social , Responsabilidade Social , Alaska/epidemiologia , Alcoolismo/psicologia , Estudos Transversais , Humanos , Incidência , Indígenas Norte-Americanos/psicologia , Projetos de PesquisaAssuntos
Indígenas Norte-Americanos/psicologia , Transtornos Mentais/terapia , Adolescente , Criança , Pré-Escolar , Serviços Comunitários de Saúde Mental/estatística & dados numéricos , Estudos Transversais , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Transtornos Mentais/epidemiologia , Psicoterapia , Risco , Estados UnidosAssuntos
Centros Comunitários de Saúde Mental/estatística & dados numéricos , Indígenas Norte-Americanos/psicologia , Transtornos Mentais/epidemiologia , Adolescente , Adulto , Fatores Etários , Idoso , Criança , Humanos , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Transtornos Neuróticos/epidemiologia , Transtornos da Personalidade/epidemiologia , Transtornos Psicóticos/epidemiologia , Transtornos Relacionados ao Uso de Substâncias/epidemiologia , Estados Unidos , United States Public Health ServiceRESUMO
In order to assess the impact of mental health problems among elderly American Indians, a study was conducted on the utilization patterns of ambulatory care facilities by various age groups of Indians. Since most health care of Indians is rendered by the Indian Health Service (IHS), data obtained from IHS computer centers provided a reasonable index of disease patterns. Because the elderly have constituted such a small fraction of the Indian population, they have not heretofore received significant attention. However, their problems are rapidly increasing. By adjusting the frequency of visits according to population, an estimate of visit "rates" was made. These rates showed one visit for every 10 persons in the 0-44 age group, one for every 5 persons in the 45-54 age group, but only one visit for every 25 persons in the 65+ age group. Most of the visits by older Indians concerned "social" problems rather than "mental" disorders as such. These data provided information that should prove especially helpful in the design of social and health programs for elderly Indians.