Date of Conferral

2023

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Health Education and Promotion

Advisor

Yitza A. Arcelay Rojas

Abstract

The purpose of this interpretative qualitative study was to describe influences that affect the use of traditional healing and biomedical health services for type 2 diabetes to help health educators develop more culturally competent diabetes education programs for urban American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities in the United States. The theoretical framework used for this study was the social ecological model (SEM). Using the SEM, the research questions were crafted to explore experiences of participants connected to personal, interpersonal, community, institutional, policy, and educational factors that influenced the use of traditional healing and biomedical health services. Urban AI/AN adults living in the continental United States and Alaska who used traditional healing and biomedical health services for type 2 diabetes were recruited for the study through purposive sampling, including convenience and snowball sampling. Thirteen participants completed semistructured interviews over Zoom. Data were coded and analyzed based on the five levels of SEM and the participant’s experiences using traditional healing and biomedical health services for their type 2 diabetes education and management. Participants reported disorientation when being diagnosed at a young age with type 2 diabetes self-empowerment as an adult, disconnection to their tribal community, convenience of biomedical health services, family involvement with their diabetes care, and the need for policy to include traditional healing and healers into healthcare accessibility. Implications for positive social change include improving awareness and understanding of health educators regarding urban AI/AN populations health needs and being able to implement better health programs for them.

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