Tuesday July 11

Day two is quite the long one!

When it comes to the healthcare system within the Cherokee community, it is operated by the tribe. Casey Cooper is the Chief Executive Officer of Cherokee Indian Hospital. The hospital itself is run by those selected to represent from each of the 7 clans of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians.

The members of the healthcare teams consist of doctors, nurses, aides, nutritionist, pharmacist, dental, eye doctors, and even behavioral health staff. Essentially their way of operating around health is quite amazing. EVERYONE WORKS TOGETHER. You read that right! On the inpatient unit all the doctors, nurses, aides, pharmacy and anyone else taking care of the patient make their grand rounds.  This ensures that everyone is on the same page for the patients health. This is done for each patient! There is less miscommunications and a better sense of patient centered care.  I was able to witness this process during my shadowing of inpatient and outpatient today and was simply amazed. When the case manager had a phone call, the doctor was sitting right there and was able to hear everything, any questions could be asked without having to disconnect and call back. Questions about medications or dosing? There's a pharmacist sitting right there as well. The patient is really put first with this type of healthcare. One major difference is just that. When a patient presents with a need, the staff are able to fill that need, or find the means to do so.  If they are losing weight from not eating properly due to an upset stomach from a new medication, the doctor can have the pharmacist step in with the patient, during the same appointment, and educate them about how taking medications with meals can decrease upset stomach.In our society it can be harder to get patients to be compliant because so much time and effort is spent going from one location to another for visits to be seen for one ailment, not to mention a person having more than one (which is very common.)
In our healthcare system, doctors do not take the time to collaborate and work together on a patients care. The cardiologist may never speak to the urologist regarding a patients care plan.  This could (and does) lead to different desired goals as the patient is expected to meet these, but their medications may not be compatible with one another, adding more ailments to the seemingly never ending list.

There are a few alternative practices that they incorporate into their health care. These include acupuncture, massage therapy, and even chiropractors all within the hospital building. In modern medicine, these methods are not always incorporated or practiced among our culture. Chiropractors are becoming more popular, though some still have the stigma of these being "a bologna practice."

We are working on our service project down here as well. So here's a hint:

Currently in foster care, children under age 3 in each county are as follows: Swain County , 19; Jackson County, 28; Graham County, 12 (Eastern. 2017)

Reference:
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, The Cherokee Safe Babies Program, Cherokee, North Carolina. (2017). Retrieved July 12, 2017, from http://www.qicct.org/eastern