Exploring the Relationship of Indigenous Identity, Perceived Stress, and Healthcare Utilization Among Indigenous Identifying Students Attending The University Of Arizona

Abstract

The University of Arizona currently has more Indigenous identifying students attending the college in history. Despite this, Indigenous students are the least likely of all measured racial and ethnic groups to use on campus healthcare. This mixed methods dissertation aims to understand potential reasons for the declining rates of use by seeing if Indigenous identity impacts healthcare decision making, as well as explore other potential barriers to care. First is a scoping review that evaluates the known relationship between Indigenous identity and measurements of stress with United States based Indigenous populations. The second utilizes the Indigenous qualitative research method of Talking Circles with undergraduate and graduate Indigenous identifying students for barriers to accessing healthcare and how Indigenous identity impacted by the university system. The final aim is quantitative; utilizing surveys with Campus Health’s healthcare utilization questions, the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM) and Perceived Stress Scale 10 (PSS-10) to determine if there is a significant relationship between Indigenous identity and utilization of Campus Health. This dissertation identifies many barriers to on campus healthcare for Indigenous students at the University of Arizona related to health literacy, perceived and actualized costs, and mistrust of the university. While Chapter 2 explores how Indigenous identity affects all aspects of students' lives, Chapter 3's results do not capture these nuances due to potential survey instrument limitations. The dissertation concludes by suggesting next steps to address barriers and calls for further research to improve current measurements of Indigenous identity.