Document Type

Report

Publication Date

6-30-2009

Abstract

This executive summary of the final report documents the major findings of an assessment of needs conducted for the Nebraska Urban Indian Health Coalition (NUIHC). The purpose of the study is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the problems and unmet healthcare needs of Native American populations in Nebraska’s Douglas and Lancaster counties (approximately 3,700 persons) using a community-based model and innovative data-gathering technology.

An extensive social and health needs questionnaire was developed and delivered to targeted samples of adult, urban Native American populations at least 19 years of age, at community meetings held in Omaha and Lincoln during October-December 2008.1 The survey questions were formatted for participants using an Audience Response System (ARS), a computer assisted tool consisting of hand-held key pads linked wirelessly to an audiovisual display.

The ARS keypads allowed participants to respond anonymously in real time and to hear and see questions and answer choices that were read by a culturally-sensitive facilitator. In addition, ARS demonstrated other advantages to traditional surveying and focus-group techniques that have been documented in previous studies,2 and was shown to be a particularly successfully tool in working with Native American populations in Nebraska.

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