麻豆国产

FUERTE faculty member Benjam铆n Aceves, whose mixed-methods research primarily focuses on developing interventions that aim to address multi-level factors that cause diabetes-related chronic disease health disparities among Latina/Latine/Latinx/Latino communities in the border region, was recently published in The Lancet Global Health.

This article鈥檚 authors began working together as part of the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases鈥� (GACD) Indigenous Populations Working Group, of which Aceves is a founding member. After regularly attending GACD conferences and working closely with community members living along the US-Mexico border, Aceves began to realize 鈥渢he need to really understand how Indigeneity plays into Latino health鈥� and how to be more inclusive of Indigenous community needs, especially when considering that many Latinos have Indigenous roots.

While both nations often default to reductive racial categories, the United States typically uses rigid and segmented conceptions of race that can make it near impossible for an individual to acknowledge multiple ethnic heritages.

By contrast, Mexico tends to map racial categories within a neocolonial framework that more closely considers an individual鈥檚 European heritage and can result in racial categories such as mestizo 鈥� an 鈥渆levated class status鈥� that has often reflected the attempts of powerful individuals with both indigenous and Spanish roots to 鈥渄istance themselves from indigeneity,鈥� Aceves explained.

When the GACD began developing topic-specific working groups, Aceves immediately gravitated toward the group intent to focus on 鈥渉ow [chronic diseases] intersect and interact with that idea of Indigenous health.鈥�

The authors emphasize that health inequities among Indigenous peoples are mainly due to disproportionately high rates of non-communicable chronic diseases and that environmental and socioeconomic factors that negatively impact Indigenous populations have been heavily influenced by colonization and its echoes in modern societal systems.

Arguing that decolonizing research practices 鈥渕ust provide immediate tangible benefits to the communities being studied鈥� and closely evaluate institutional funding structures, the authors advocate for expanding literature on Indigenous health beyond descriptive studies and instead focusing on efforts that analyze 鈥渟ocial鈥揷ultural determinants, protective factors, and health-promoting aspects of Indigenous cultures鈥� while fostering trusting relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers and communities 鈥渢o recognise and appreciate the value of what can be learned from each other.鈥�

Aceves鈥� advocacy for this paradigm shift has largely stemmed from his background in a prevention-focused review of healthcare systems. As a young child, Aceves noticed the inaccessibility some of his family members had, particularly in regard to limited language services and well-meaning but culturally incompetent medical recommendations. 
As an undergraduate student, he studied abroad in Berlin, Germany where attempts to navigate the German healthcare system were often 鈥渟tigmatizing鈥� experiences.

鈥淚t brings something up in you that says, 鈥楽omething鈥檚 not right here,鈥欌�� Aceves explained. 鈥淵ou can have a great medical system, but if it鈥檚 not serving all its populations in an equitable way, it鈥檚 not really doing its job in providing quality care for all.鈥�

Utilizing more inclusive language and not assuming that people will accept Western medicine without merging it with culturally resonant approaches are two of Aceves鈥� hopes for this article鈥檚 practical impact on healthcare systems. 鈥淢y goal has just been to improve health equity and that鈥檚 where my research centers: to promote and to proliferate health equity efforts.鈥�