Trusted Communicators: The Role of Navigation Support in Improving Health and Health Care Access for American Indian Elders.

Navigating health care and insurance systems presents significant challenges for American Indian (AI) Elders. Access to culturally congruent assistance with decision-making, scheduling, transportation, and communication can bridge the gap between AI Elders and health systems. This study uses qualitative interviews with professionals providing navigation services to American Indian Elders in a Southwestern state to understand the skills, experiences, and challenges involved in delivering this support. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 16 professionals providing navigation support to AI Elders between November 2018 and August 2020 and used a constant comparative approach to identify themes. Participants' descriptions of their work centered on the themes of (1) respect for Elders; (2) wide-ranging responsibilities; (3) acting as a trusted communicator; (4) developing trust; and (5) challenges to providing navigation support for AI Elders. Efforts to achieve health equity for AI Elders must include supporting individuals such as these within communities and advocating for a just health care system for American Indian people.

Trends in Adolescent Suicide by Method in the US, 1999-2020.

Importance: Adolescent suicide in the US is a major public health problem, yet temporal trends in suicide methods by demographics are understudied. Objective: To examine national trends in suicide mortality by method (firearm, poisoning, hanging and asphyxiation, and all other means) from 1999 to 2020 by demographic characteristics. Design, Setting, and Participants: This serial cross-sectional study used national death certificate data of adolescent (aged 10-19 years) suicide decedents compiled by the National Center for Health Statistics from January 1, 1999, to December 31, 2020. Data analysis was performed from April 1, 2023, to July 9, 2023. Exposures: Age, sex, and race and ethnicity. Main Outcomes and Measures: Trends in age-standardized mortality rates and average annual percent change (AAPC) in rates were estimated by age, sex, and race and ethnicity for each suicide method. Results: This study assessed data from 47 217 adolescent suicide decedents. From 1999 to 2020, suicide by firearm (AAPC, 1.0; 95% CI, 0.1-1.9), poisoning (AAPC, 2.7; 95% CI, 1.0-4.4), hanging and asphyxiation (AAPC, 2.4; 95% CI, 0.2-4.6), and other means (AAPC, 2.9; 95% CI, 1.2-4.6) increased. Rapidly increasing rates were observed among female adolescents for poisoning (AAPC, 4.5; 95% CI, 2.3-6.7) and hanging and asphyxiation (AAPC, 5.9; 95% CI, 5.0-6.8) suicides. From 2007 to 2020, firearm suicides sharply increased among female (annual percent change [APC], 7.8; 95% CI, 6.0-9.5) and male (APC, 5.3; 95% CI, 4.3-6.3) adolescents. Firearm suicide rates increased among Black adolescents from 2012 to 2020 (APC, 14.5; 95% CI, 9.7-19.5), Asian and Pacific Islander adolescents from 2008 to 2020 (APC, 12.0; 95% CI, 9.7-14.5), American Indian and Alaska Native adolescents from 2014 to 2020 (APC, 10.6; 95% CI, 2.6-19.3), and Hispanic or Latino adolescents from 2011 to 2020 (APC, 10.2; 95% CI, 6.3-13.8). During the study period, Black adolescents had the highest average increase in hanging and asphyxiation suicides (AAPC, 4.2; 95% CI, 3.2-5.2). From 2011 to 2020, poisoning suicide deaths increased (APC, 12.6; 95% CI, 8.5-16.7) among female adolescents. Conclusions and Relevance: Suicide rates increased across all methods from 1999 to 2020. Differences were noted by sex, age, and race and ethnicity. Increasing suicide rates among racial and ethnic minoritized youth are especially concerning, and effective prevention strategies are urgently needed.

Testing a Culturally Tailored Advance Care Planning Intervention (MY WAY) for an American Indian Tribe: Protocol for a Quasi-Experimental Waitlist Control Design.

BACKGROUND: American Indian and Alaska Native peoples experience poor end-of-life care, including more hospitalizations and lower use of hospice and do-not-resuscitate orders. Although advance care planning (ACP) can improve end-of-life care, ACP rates are disproportionately low in American Indians and Alaska Natives. OBJECTIVE: We culturally tailored and delivered an existing evidence-based ACP program for an American Indian tribal community. Here, we present the protocol for assessing the intervention's feasibility and efficacy. METHODS: We measured feasibility via participant recruitment, participants' evaluation (acceptability, appropriateness, comprehension, and satisfaction), and intervention fidelity. Recruitment was measured with participant screening, eligibility, enrollment, and retention. Participant's evaluation of the intervention was measured with surveys. Fidelity was measured with direct observation and the Make Your Wishes About You (MY WAY) Fidelity Checklist Tool. To assess the intervention's efficacy, we used a quasi-experimental waitlist control design with 2 cohorts who were surveyed each on three separate occasions. The intervention's efficacy was assessed by the following: ACP barriers and facilitators as well as ACP self-efficacy, readiness, and completion. RESULTS: A total of 166 participants were screened for eligibility; 11 were deemed ineligible, and 155 participants were enrolled in the study. Of those enrolled, 113 completed the intervention and will be included in subsequent analyses. We finalized data collection in January 2023, and analyses are underway. Study enrollment was successful, and we expect that participants will report high levels of acceptability, appropriateness, comprehension, and satisfaction with the intervention. We expect that the intervention was implemented with fidelity and will demonstrate decreases in ACP barriers and increases in ACP facilitators, self-efficacy, readiness, and completion. CONCLUSIONS: Enrolling over twice as many participants as we had hoped suggests that members of this tribal community are willing to engage in end-of-life ACP. We were able to implement a waitlist study design to show that a culturally tailored ACP program for a tribal community is feasible. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05304117; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05304117. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/50654.

Life Space and Activity Space Measurement: Making 'Room' for Structural Racism.

As we age, the ability to move is foundational to health. Life space is one measure of a person's ability to move and engage in activity beyond the home. A separate but related concept is activity space, a measurement of a person's spatial behaviors and visited locations that include social networks, neighborhoods, and institutions. In this article, we integrate the literature on life space and activity space discussing how physical function is not only determined by individual capabilities, but also by the surrounding social and environmental factors which may limit their agency. We show how structural racism contributes to inequities within this paradigm linking related concepts of movement, agency, belonging, and timing. We also explore implications for research and theory for mobility, social connection, and activity.

Trends in Mortality From Poisonings, Firearms, and All Other Injuries by Intent in the US, 1999-2020.

Importance: Although deaths due to external causes are a leading cause of mortality in the US, trends over time by intent and demographic characteristics remain poorly understood. Objective: To examine national trends in mortality rates due to external causes from 1999 to 2020 by intent (homicide, suicide, unintentional, and undetermined) and demographic characteristics. External causes were defined as poisonings (eg, drug overdose), firearms, and all other injuries, including motor vehicle injuries and falls. Given the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, US death rates for 2019 and 2020 were also compared. Design, Setting, and Participants: Serial cross-sectional study using national death certificate data obtained from the National Center for Health Statistics and including all external causes of 3 813 894 deaths among individuals aged 20 years or older from January 1, 1999, to December 31, 2020. Data analysis was conducted from January 20, 2022, to February 5, 2023. Exposures: Age, sex, and race and ethnicity. Main Outcomes and Measures: Trends in age-standardized mortality rates and average annual percentage change (AAPC) in rates calculated by intent (suicide, homicide, unintentional, and undetermined), age, sex, and race and ethnicity for each external cause. Results: Between 1999 and 2020, there were 3 813 894 deaths due to external causes in the US. From 1999 to 2020, poisoning death rates increased annually (AAPC, 7.0%; 95% CI, 5.4%-8.7%). From 2014 to 2020, poisoning death rates increased the most among men (APC, 10.8%; 95% CI, 7.7%-14.0%). During the study period, poisoning death rates increased in all the racial and ethnic groups examined; the most rapid increase was among American Indian and Alaska Native individuals (AAPC, 9.2%; 95% CI, 7.4%-10.9%). During the study period, death rates for unintentional poisoning had the most rapid rate of increase (AAPC, 8.1%; 95% CI, 7.4%-8.9%). From 1999 to 2020, firearm death rates increased (AAPC, 1.1%; 95% CI, 0.7%-1.5%). From 2013 to 2020, firearm mortality increased by an average of 4.7% annually (95% CI, 2.9%-6.5%) among individuals aged 20 to 39 years. From 2014 to 2020, mortality from firearm homicides increased by an average of 6.9% annually (95% CI, 3.5%-10.4%). From 2019 to 2020, mortality rates from external causes accelerated further, largely from increases in unintentional poisoning, and homicide due to firearms and all other injuries. Conclusions and Relevance: Results of this cross-sectional study suggest that from 1999 to 2020, death rates due to poisonings, firearms, and all other injuries increased substantially in the US. The rapid increase in deaths due to unintentional poisonings and firearm homicides is a national emergency that requires urgent public health interventions at the local and national levels.

Cancer mortality rates by racial and ethnic groups in the United States, 2018-2020.

BACKGROUND: Starting in 2018, national death certificates included a new racial classification system that accounts for multiple-race decedents and separates Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) individuals from Asian individuals. We estimated cancer death rates across updated racial and ethnic categories, sex, and age. METHODS: Age-standardized US cancer mortality rates and rate ratios from 2018 to 2020 among individuals aged 20 years and older were estimated with national death certificate data by race and ethnicity, sex, age, and cancer site. RESULTS: In 2018, there were approximately 597 000 cancer deaths, 598 000 in 2019, and 601 000 in 2020. Among men, cancer death rates were highest in Black men (298.2 per 100 000; n = 105 632), followed by White (250.8; n = 736 319), American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN; 249.2; n = 3376), NHPI (205.6; n = 1080), Latino (177.2; n = 66 167), and Asian (147.9; n = 26 591) men. Among women, Black women had the highest cancer death rates (206.5 per 100 000; n = 104 437), followed by NHPI (192.1; n = 1141), AI/AN (189.9; n = 3239), White (183.0; n = 646 865), Latina (128.4; n = 61 579), and Asian (111.4; n = 26 396) women. The highest death rates by age group occurred among NHPI individuals aged 20-49 years and Black individuals aged 50-69 and 70 years and older. Asian individuals had the lowest cancer death rates across age groups. Compared with Asian individuals, total cancer death rates were 39% higher in NHPI men and 73% higher in NHPI women. CONCLUSIONS: There were striking racial and ethnic disparities in cancer death rates during 2018-2020. Separating NHPI and Asian individuals revealed large differences in cancer mortality between 2 groups that were previously combined in vital statistics data.

Causes and Consequences of Not Having a Personal Healthcare Provider Among American Indian Elders: A Mixed-Method Study.

Having a regular relationship with a healthcare provider contributes to better health outcomes and greater satisfaction with care for older adults. Although members of federally recognized American Indian tribes have a legal right to healthcare, American Indian Elders experience inequities in healthcare access that may compromise their ability to establish a relationship with a healthcare provider. This multi-year, community-driven, mixed-method study examines the potential causes and consequences of not having a personal healthcare provider among American Indian Elders. Quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews were conducted with 96 American Indian Elders (age 55 and over) in two states in the Southwestern United States. Quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed separately and then triangulated to identify convergences and divergences in data. Findings confirmed that having a consistent healthcare provider correlated significantly with self-rated measures of health, confidence in getting needed care, access to overall healthcare, and satisfaction with care. Lack of a regular healthcare provider was related to interconnected experiences of self-reliance, bureaucratic and contextual barriers to care, and sentiments of fear and mistrust based in previous interactions with medical care. Increasing health equity for American Indian Elders will thus require tailored outreach and system change efforts to increase continuity of care and provider longevity within health systems and build Elders' trust and confidence in healthcare providers.

The Community as the Unit of Healing: Conceptualizing Social Determinants of Health and Well-Being for Older American Indian Adults.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Multiple racial and social inequities shape health and access to health care for American Indian Elders, who have a lower life expectancy than all other aging populations in the United States. This qualitative study examines how upstream social determinants of health influence Elders' ability to access and use health care. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Between June 2016 and March 2017, we conducted individual, semistructured interviews with 96 American Indian Elders, aged 55 and older, and 47 professionals involved in planning or delivering care to Elders in 2 states in the U.S. Southwest. Transcripts were analyzed iteratively using grounded theory approaches, including open and focused coding. A group of American Indian Elders and allies called the Seasons of Care Community Action Board guided interpretation and prioritization of findings. RESULTS: Participants described multiple barriers that hindered Elders' ability to access health care services and providers, which were largely tied to funding shortages and bureaucratic complexities associated with health care and insurance systems. Where available, community resources bridged service gaps and helped Elders navigate systems. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Longstanding structural inequities for American Indians manifest in barriers to health equity, many of which are situated at the community level. These are compounded by additional disparities affecting older adults, rural residents, and marginalized citizens in general. Findings underscore the importance of health and policy initiatives for American Indian Elders that emphasize the community as the focus of intervention.

Experiences of Health Insurance among American Indian Elders and Their Health Care Providers.

CONTEXT: American Indian elders have a lower life expectancy than other aging populations in the United States because of inequities in health and in access to health care. To reduce such disparities, the 2010 Affordable Care Act included provisions to increase insurance enrollment among American Indians. Although the Indian Health Service remains underfunded, increases in insured rates have had significant impacts among American Indians and their health care providers. METHODS: From June 2016 to March 2017, we conducted qualitative interviews with 96 American Indian elders (age 55+) and 47 professionals (including health care providers, outreach workers, public-sector administrators, and tribal leaders) in two southwestern states. Interviews focused on elders' experiences with health care and health insurance. We analyzed transcripts iteratively using open and focused coding techniques. FINDINGS: Although tribal health programs have benefitted from insurance payments, the complexities of selecting, qualifying for, and maintaining health insurance are often profoundly alienating and destabilizing for American Indian elders and communities. CONCLUSIONS: Findings underscore the inadequacy of health-system reforms based on the expansion of private and individual insurance plans in ameliorating health disparities among American Indian elders. Policy makers must not neglect their responsibility to directly fund health care for American Indians.

Empowering Equitable Data Use Partnerships and Indigenous Data Sovereignties Amid Pandemic Genomics.

The COVID-19 pandemic has inequitably impacted Indigenous communities in the United States. In this emergency state that highlighted existing inadequacies in US government and tribal public health infrastructures, many tribal nations contracted with commercial entities and other organization types to conduct rapid diagnostic and antibody testing, often based on proprietary technologies specific to the novel pathogen. They also partnered with public-private enterprises on clinical trials to further the development of vaccines. Indigenous people contributed biological samples for assessment and, in many cases, broadly consented for indefinite use for future genomics research. A concern is that the need for crisis aid may have placed Indigenous communities in a position to forego critical review of data use agreements by tribal research governances. In effect, tribal nations were placed in the unenviable position of trading short-term public health assistance for long-term, unrestricted access to Indigenous genomes that may disempower future tribal sovereignties over community members' data. Diagnostic testing, specimen collection, and vaccine research is ongoing; thus, our aim is to outline pathways to trust that center current and future equitable relationship-building between tribal entities and public-private interests. These pathways can be utilized to increase Indigenous communities' trust of external partners and share understanding of expectations for and execution of data protections. We discuss how to navigate genomic-based data use agreements in the context of pathogen genomics. While we focus on US tribal nations, Indigenous genomic data sovereignties relate to global Indigenous nations regardless of colonial government recognition.

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Excess Deaths During the COVID-19 Pandemic, March to December 2020.

BACKGROUND: Although racial/ethnic disparities in U.S. COVID-19 death rates are striking, focusing on COVID-19 deaths alone may underestimate the true effect of the pandemic on disparities. Excess death estimates capture deaths both directly and indirectly caused by COVID-19. OBJECTIVE: To estimate U.S. excess deaths by racial/ethnic group. DESIGN: Surveillance study. SETTING: United States. PARTICIPANTS: All decedents. MEASUREMENTS: Excess deaths and excess deaths per 100 000 persons from March to December 2020 were estimated by race/ethnicity, sex, age group, and cause of death, using provisional death certificate data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and U.S. Census Bureau population estimates. RESULTS: An estimated 2.88 million deaths occurred between March and December 2020. Compared with the number of expected deaths based on 2019 data, 477 200 excess deaths occurred during this period, with 74% attributed to COVID-19. Age-standardized excess deaths per 100 000 persons among Black, American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN), and Latino males and females were more than double those in White and Asian males and females. Non-COVID-19 excess deaths also disproportionately affected Black, AI/AN, and Latino persons. Compared with White males and females, non-COVID-19 excess deaths per 100 000 persons were 2 to 4 times higher in Black, AI/AN, and Latino males and females, including deaths due to diabetes, heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, and Alzheimer disease. Excess deaths in 2020 resulted in substantial widening of racial/ethnic disparities in all-cause mortality from 2019 to 2020. LIMITATIONS: Completeness and availability of provisional CDC data; no estimates of precision around results. CONCLUSION: There were profound racial/ethnic disparities in excess deaths in the United States in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in rapid increases in racial/ethnic disparities in all-cause mortality between 2019 and 2020. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE: National Institutes of Health Intramural Research Program.

Urban American Indian and Alaska Native Data Sovereignty: Ethical Issues.

This paper examines the ethical issues underlying research with urban American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) through the lens of tribal sovereignty. There are 574 federally recognized tribes within the United States. Each of those tribes is recognized by the federal government as having sovereign status, an important political designation that ensures that decisions impacting tribal peoples must be made after consultation with those nations. Most AI/AN people live away from their designated tribal lands, yet their sovereign rights are frequently only recognized when living on tribal lands. These urban AI/ANs are still considered citizens of their sovereign nations, yet they lack the protections afforded to those who live on tribal lands, including protections surrounding research with their tribal communities. We explore the Belmont Report and related documents and demonstrate their inadequacy in considering the cultural and ethical concerns specific to protecting urban AI/ANs. We also provide several solutions to help guide future institutional policies regarding research with urban AI/ANs that honors Indigenous data sovereignty, including consultation, partnership with community advisory boards, employment of data use agreements, and ensuring informed consent.

Ending the Chase: Experiences of Rural Individuals with Opioid Use Disorder.

BACKGROUND: The US remains in the midst of an opioid overdose epidemic. Given that rural populations have higher rates of opioid-related morbidity and mortality, it is important to understand the factors that perpetuate opioid use and facilitate recovery in rural communities. Purpose: To explore experiences of individuals living with opioid use disorder (OUD) and to analyze these experiences within a broader sociocultural context. Methods: Using a descriptive, qualitative design, we interviewed twenty purposefully sampled participants. We used thematic content analysis to identify themes and patterns. Results: As participants became dependent, the chase for opioids was to avoid the pain of withdrawal. Waking up sick became an everyday experience, leading to a lifestyle of hustling. The pursuit of opioids resulted in physical, social, emotional, and legal consequences that fed a cycle of stigmatization. In recovery, participants learned to embrace a new way of thinking, allowing them to make new choices. The strong influence of family and community in their lives was a key factor in their resiliency and opioid use experiences. Conclusions: Individuals with OUD are impacted by intersecting social, physical, economic and policy factors that reinforce the expansion of the opioid epidemic rurally. This study provided a voice to rural individuals with opioid use disorder, a group often underrepresented in the literature, providing an understanding of their struggles and the unique sociocultural dynamics that exist in rural northern New Mexico. The complex sociocultural relationships to family and community represent important adaptive factors that could support individual healing and community transformation.

Macro- and meso-level contextual influences on health care inequities among American Indian elders.

BACKGROUND: American Indian elders, aged 55 years and older, represent a neglected segment of the United States (U.S.) health care system. This group is more likely to be uninsured and to suffer from greater morbidities, poorer health outcomes and quality of life, and lower life expectancies compared to all other aging populations in the country. Despite the U.S. government's federal trust responsibility to meet American Indians' health-related needs through the Indian Health Service (IHS), elders are negatively affected by provider shortages, limited availability of health care services, and gaps in insurance. This qualitative study examines the perspectives of professional stakeholders involved in planning, delivery of, and advocating for services for this population to identify and analyze macro- and meso-level factors affecting access to and use of health care and insurance among American Indian elders at the micro level. METHODS: Between June 2016 and March 2017, we undertook in-depth qualitative interviews with 47 professional stakeholders in two states in the Southwest U.S., including health care providers, outreach workers, public-sector administrators, and tribal leaders. The interviews focused on perceptions of both policy- and practice-related factors that bear upon health care inequities impacting elders. We analyzed iteratively the interview transcripts, using both open and focused coding techniques, followed by a critical review of the findings by a Community Action Board comprising American Indian elders. RESULTS: Findings illuminated complex and multilevel contextual influences on health care inequities for elders, centering on (1) gaps in elder-oriented services; (2) benefits and limits of the Affordable Care Act (ACA); (2) invisibility of elders in national, state, and tribal policymaking; and (4) perceived threats to the IHS system and the federal trust responsibility. CONCLUSIONS: Findings point to recommendations to improve the prevention and treatment of illness among American Indian elders by meeting their unique health care and insurance needs. Policies and practices must target meso and macro levels of contextual influence. Although Medicaid expansion under the ACA enables providers of essential services to elders, including the IHS, to enhance care through increased reimbursements, future policy efforts must improve upon this funding situation and fulfill the federal trust responsibility.

CBPR Implementation Framework for Community-Academic Partnerships.

The Engage for Equity (E2) study is an intervention trial for community-academic research partnerships that seeks to improve partnering practices and health equity outcomes by providing community and academic partners with tools to enhance and advance power sharing and health equity. Twenty-five community/academic research teams completed a two-day training intervention where they were introduced to the CBPR Conceptual Model and corresponding applied tools to their partnerships. We report on team interviews conducted immediately after the training, where teams discussed opportunities and challenges using the CBPR Model as an implementation framework as they considered their own contexts, their partnering processes/practices, actions, and their desired outcomes. We applied Diffusion of Innovation theory to guide data collection and analysis; augmented by intent to use and collective reflection. Results pointed to the flexibility of the CBPR model, concrete use of tools (e.g., planning/evaluation), and broader use in inspiring collective reflection to improve partnering practices and inform equity values. As an implementation framework, the CBPR model incorporates collaborative processes and strategies to mitigate power differentials into key phases of implementation studies, adding factors central to health equity work, not existing in previous implementation frameworks.

Getting to Know: American Indian Elder Health Seeking in an Under-funded Healthcare System.

American Indian (AI) Elders are the heart of the community. Existing research explores links between specific health behaviors and social determinants of health, but there is little theory explaining patient behaviors in the context of the Indian Health Service (IHS) system of care. We drew from a multiyear mixed-methods participatory study of Elder healthcare experiences to identify the systemic, interpersonal, and historic factors in the IHS that impact their health-seeking behaviors. We conducted an interpretive grounded theory analysis guided by Indigenous methodologies to analyze interviews with 96 AI Elders from two Southwestern states. Our resulting theory, Getting to Know, explains how Elders knew, owned, accessed, and were denied information and resources in their efforts to receive care. Findings highlight how Elders' health-seeking behaviors reflect longstanding inequities, the many ways Elder knowledge was incongruent with Western knowledge embedded in the IHS system, and how this conflict contributed to Elder discomfort in clinical settings. Future work will test the applicability of Getting to Know in other AI communities and design culturally safe care to meet Elder needs. By applying an Indigenous-centered analysis to the voices of Elders, we identified key influences on health outcomes not previously observed in the literature. By illuminating these influences, we show how culturally safe care can be better formulated to meet the needs of Elders, ultimately improving health for AI communities.

Health Care Access and Utilization for American Indian Elders: A Concept-Mapping Study.

OBJECTIVES: Inequities in access to and utilization of health care greatly influence the health and quality of life of American Indian elders (AIEs). This study explores the importance and perceived prevalence of factors affecting health care use within this population and assesses the changeability of these factors to produce a list of action items that are timely and relevant to improving health care access and utilization. METHOD: Concept mapping was conducted with AIEs (n = 65) and professional stakeholders (n = 50), including tribal leaders, administrators of public-sector health systems, outreach workers, and health care providers. Data were analyzed using multidimensional scaling and cluster analyses. RESULTS: The final concept-map model comprised nine thematic clusters related to factors affecting elder health care: Difficulties Obtaining and Using Insurance; Insecurity from Lack of Knowledge; Limited Availability of Services; Scheduling Challenges; Provider Issues and Relationships; Family and Emotional Challenges; Health-Related Self-Efficacy and Knowledge; Accessibility and Transportation Barriers; and Tribal/National Policy. DISCUSSION: Findings suggest that improvements in access to and utilization of health care among AIEs will require actions across multiple domains, including health system navigation services, workforce improvements, and tribal, state, and federal policy. A multilevel socioecological approach is necessary to organize and undertake these actions.

Trends in Mortality From Drug Poisonings, Suicide, and Alcohol-Induced Deaths in the United States From 2000 to 2017.

Importance: Life expectancy has decreased in the US, driven largely by increases in drug poisoning, suicide, and alcohol-induced deaths. Assessing whether patterns of these causes differ is required to inform public health interventions. Objective: To compare patterns and trends in drug poisoning, suicide, and alcohol-induced death rates by geography and demographic characteristics. Design, Setting, and Participants: This serial cross-sectional study used national vital statistics data from the entire US population from January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2017, among US residents aged 20 to 64 years. Data were analyzed from January through August 2019. Exposures: Age, sex, race/ethnicity, county-level percentage of unemployment, rurality, and geography. Main Outcomes and Measures: Deaths were categorized as due to drug poisoning, suicide, or alcohol-induced causes based on underlying cause of death. Age-standardized incidence rates and annual percentage changes (APCs) in rates were estimated. Clusters of high-rate counties were identified with hot spot analysis. Excess deaths during 2001 to 2017 were estimated for each cause as the difference between the number of deaths observed and expected if rates had remained stable starting in 2000. Results: During 2000 to 2017, 1 446 177 drug poisoning, suicide, and alcohol-induced premature deaths occurred in the US, including 563 765 drug poisoning deaths (age-standardized rate: 17.6 per 100 000 person-years [PYs]), 517 679 suicides (age-standardized rate: 15.8 per 100 000 PYs), and 364 733 alcohol-induced deaths (age-standardized rate: 10.5 per 100 000 PYs), totaling 451 596 more deaths than expected based on 2000 rates. High drug poisoning death rates were clustered in the Northeast through Appalachia, yet rates of suicide and alcohol-induced deaths were highest in the West. Only suicide death rates were highest in rural areas. Drug poisoning death rates were highest among people aged 35 to 49 years (age-standardized rate: 23.7 per 100 000 PYs), whereas suicide and alcohol-induced death rates peaked among people aged 50 to 64 years (suicide age-standardized rate: 19.6 per 100 000 PYs; alcohol-induced age-standardized death rate: 26.8 per 100 000 PYs). Increases occurred over time across racial/ethnic groups, although trajectories and inflection years varied. Drug poisoning (2013-2017 APC, 15.0% [95% CI, 11-8%-18.3%] per year) and alcohol-induced death rates (2012-2017 APC, 4.1% [95% CI, 3.3%-4.9%] per year) have accelerated recently, while increases in suicide death rates have largely increased at a constant trajectory (2000-2017 APC, 1.8% [95% CI, 1.7%-1.9%] per year). Conclusions and Relevance: This cross-sectional study found that demographic characteristics and geographic patterns varied by cause of death, suggesting that increasing death rates from these causes were not concentrated in 1 group or region. Specialized interventions tailored for the underlying drivers of each cause of death are urgently needed.

Methods and Findings on Diet and Lifestyle Used to Support Estimation of Radiation Doses from Radioactive Fallout from the Trinity Nuclear Test.

The Trinity nuclear test was detonated in south-central New Mexico on 16 July 1945; in the early 2000s, the National Cancer Institute undertook a dose and cancer risk projection study of the possible health impacts of the test. In order to conduct a comprehensive dose assessment for the Trinity test, we collected diet and lifestyle data relevant to the populations living in New Mexico around the time of the test. This report describes the methodology developed to capture the data used to calculate radiation exposures and presents dietary and lifestyle data results for the main exposure pathways considered in the dose reconstruction. Individual interviews and focus groups were conducted in 2017 among older adults who had lived in the same New Mexico community during the 1940s or 1950s. Interview questions and guided group discussions focused on specific aspects of diet, water, type of housing, and time spent outdoors for different age groups. Thirteen focus groups and 11 individual interviews were conducted among Hispanic, White, and Native American participants. Extensive written notes and audio recordings aided in the coding of all responses used to derive ranges, prevalence, means, and standard deviations for each exposure variable for various age categories by region and ethnicity. Children aged 11-15 y in 1940s or 1950s from the rural plains had the highest milk intakes (993 mL d), and lowest intakes were among 11- to 15-y-olds in mountainous regions (191 mL d). Lactose intolerance rates were 7-71%, and prevalence was highest among Native Americans. Meat was not commonly consumed in the summer in most communities, and if consumed, it was among those aged 11-15 y of age or older who had relatively small amounts of 100-200 g d. Most drinking and cooking water came from covered wells, and most homes were made of adobe, which provided more protection from external radiation than wooden structures. The use of multiple approaches to trigger memory and collect participant reports on diet and other factors from the distant past seemed effective. These data were summarized, and together with other information, these data have been used to estimate radiation doses for representative persons of all ages in the main ethnic groups residing in New Mexico at the time of the Trinity nuclear test.