Facilitators and barriers to healthy living in Oregon: Perspectives from American Indian and Latino communities

The Institute of Medicine has identified Latino and American Indian populations as populations experiencing significant health and health care access inequities. Prior research indicates that Latinos and American Indians compared to same-aged White adults suffer from excess morbidity due to higher rates of preventable chronic diseases, such as high blood pressure and diabetes. Limited access to health services over the lifetime also can contribute to the excess morbidity of Latino and American Indian adults, resulting in elevated risks of disability and mortality as they grow older. Our study's objectives were to (1) identify the prominent health-related issues in two Oregon Latino communities and two American Indian communities and (2) examine the factors that key informants perceive as enabling or inhibiting healthy lifestyles of community residents. We used a snowball sampling technique to identify 35 participants who participated in tape recorded in-depth semi-structured interviews. All interviews were transcribed and analyzed using Atlas.ti software. Preliminary results show that diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease are the most common health issues with limited availability of community-based physical activity programs as a key barrier. Oregon has begun to address health inequities across the state's diverse populations through the partnership of the Oregon Health Authority and the Department of Human Services. This collaboration resulted in a report, documenting disparities among Latino and American Indian populations in multiple key measures of health. However, more data are needed to examine the factors which contribute to inequity in health in Oregon's Latino and American Indian populations.