scnow.com

Saturday, Mar 29, 2008

By Jamie Durant
scnow.com

A Lamar woman is making a difference in the health status of people halfway across the country. Tracy Rene Powell is a second-year doctoral candidate at the University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health. She will be joining the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) as a member of the Junior Commissioned Officer Student Training and Extern Program this summer for a 100-day tour of duty.

“I’ll be on a Native American reservation at Sells Hospital (in Arizona),” Powell said. “There, I will be working with a multi-health team. We’ll be working to reduce the STD (sexually-transmitted disease) disparities among Native Americans in that area.” Powell said the hospital where she will be working is on the reservation grounds. “That’s one great thing the Indian Health Service does,” she said. “They bring the health care to them.”

The Indian Health Service is a federal program that bring health care to American Indians and descendents of Alaskan natives. Powell said they provide service to 2.7 million people nationwide. There are 562 federally-recognized tribes and 35 state-recognized tribes in the United States.

Powell said Native Americans are one of the most overlooked populations in the country, and she hopes to help find ways to correct that problem.

“Native Americans overall have major problems with accessing health care,” she said. “They have higher incidence and mortality rates of type 2 diabetes and they have higher rates of tuberculosis and alcoholism.”

The suicide and homicide rates among Native Americans also are higher per capita than any other racial group in the United States, Powell said.

“When you’re looking at the Native American population as a whole in comparison to other groups in the U.S., it becomes clear that we need to increase these services to Native Americans,” she said. “There is a great need.”

Powell will hold the rank of ensign during her time in Arizona. Her past efforts to fight social injustices in the health-care community include time spent working for USC, DHEC, Family Connections of South Carolina, Palmetto AIDS Life Support Service and Palmetto Richland Memorial Hospital.

She said her work helping others means a great deal to her on a personal level. “My goal is to be an advocate for the Indian people by raising the health status to the highest level,” she said. “I see the need for Native Americans. I’m African-American and there is so much funding and opportunities for us, but there is still a great need for more funding to be given to programs for Native Americans.”

Powell said she hopes to finish work on her doctorate in May 2009 and return to work with the USPHS Commissioned Corps as a full-time active duty team member.