American Indian Health

Everett R. Rhoades, M.D., is director of the Native American Prevention Research Center at the University of Oklahoma College of Public Health and an adjunct professor of medicine, University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. From 1982 to 1993 he served as assistant surgeon general, and he was the first American Indian director of the Indian Health Service.

The volume fills a previously vacant niche for scholars, students, policymakers, and clinicians with regard to the health of American Indians and Alaska Natives. American Indian Health deserves a place on the shelf of anyone with a serious interest in this field, as it stands alone as a single-volume reference about health and health care of American Indians and Alaska Natives. Journal of the American Medical Association This book tells one of the great untold tales of health care in the United States: the campaign to improve the health of American Indians and Alaskan Natives. The true richness of this book lies in the beginning and the end. Its opening chapters start with a fascinating look at the origins of aboriginal populations of North America and their health conditions before Columbus. Then, the authors take us to an insightful historical and contemporary view of Indian-white relations and the history and organization of the Indian health care systems. The ending of the book covers such essential topics as traditional Indian medicine, cultural considerations in providing care to this population, conducting research among American Indians/Alaskan Natives, and the future of Indian health care in the United States. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine American Indian Health is a detailed, authoritative, and well-written volume that will be of great value to all those interested in American Indian/Native American health and public health in general. Journal of Community Health Well written and authoritative, and, in many parts, energetic and spirited. It provides excellent insights into the political and administrative arena of Indian health, as well as a review of some of the most important disease entities. In addition, it does so from a native perspective, blending in and emphasizing the cultural aspects of illness with the medical perspectives of those illnesses. -- James M. Galloway The Lancet This text is a good reference as well as a good introduction for the newcomer to Indian health. -- Rebecca-Maria Norwick Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved 2004