I’m doing research on the Nuka system of care for my upcoming
trip to North Carolina. I found an article about the new Cherokee Indian
Hospital that we will be visiting during our trip. In the article one of the board of directors
at the Cherokee Indian Hospital referred to the type of care being provided as ‘integrated
health care’ it combines medical staff in teams including a doctor, nurse,
dietitian, psychologist, and pharmacist (Kays, 2015). This allows the patient to get all of their
needs met at once and all the medical staff collaborate together to care for
the patient. There are 6 teams that are responsible for 1,100 to 1,200
patients (Kays, 2015). This allows the patient to have a smoother experience and they do not
have to travel to different specialists to get their care.
The healthcare model was developed
from the Southcentral Foundation a nonprofit healthcare organization that
serves the Alaska Native and American Indian people in Alaska. The Nuka system
of care was named after an Alaska Native word used for strong, giant structures and living things (Southcentral
Foundation, 2016). The relationship-based system goal is to make
medicine, tradition, infrastructure and organization work together for the best
health outcomes.
In this philosophy of care the physical environment is also a
component. The Cherokee Indian Hospital is design as a long building that
allows for easy access by the patients instead of the traditional big box style
hospital. It is also laid out in a way to maximize the number of windows in
patient rooms. The hospital stated that is was more expensive to design the hospital
like this but their belief is that beauty and sense of place are important
components of wellness (Kays, 2015). Another interesting point in the newspaper article was
in relation to the Cherokee artwork displayed throughout the hospital; they
stated a way to tell how a culture is doing is based on the artwork (Kays,
2015). This demonstrates the importance of culture and its affect on overall health.
Also in the
health care model it is important that the health care providers are educated
in the Cherokee culture. They believe understanding ones culture is the biggest
aspect of healing. In contrast to the
Nuka system of care, Western medicine divides patient problems up into domains
of physicians, psychologists, and pastors but the Cherokee way of healing
sees the whole person to find the problem (Kays, 2015).
After completing
this research I am getting more excited to be a part of this experience. I cannot
wait to see and learn about this type of healthcare, it is completely different than the
care someone gets in the hospital in our area. A system such as this
may not be cost effective initially but in the long run it would potentially
provide better patient outcomes making healthcare less costly over time.
Reference
Kays, H. (2015,
October 28). A new model of health care: Cherokee celebrates new hospital. Smoky Mountain News. Retrieved from: http://www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/16616-a-new-model-of-health-care-cherokee-celebrates-new-hospital
Southcentral
Foundation. (2016). Southcentral Foundation history. Retrieved from: https://www.southcentralfoundation.com/about-us/history/
