Back to results

Virginia Tech

Policy and Health (In)Equities among Native Elders

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Sociological theory and literature in the study of disparities in health and access to care in old age has, with few exceptions, not considered important political contexts for the aging AI/AN community. Political histories have unique implications for this population, and particularly those in old age. Native Peoples are affected by federal old age and health policies as well as AI/AN specific policies, which creates a unique intersection of inequality for this group. This project engages with three distinct areas of sociological scholarship in this area and works to highlight the strengths and gaps of existing frameworks to work towards more inclusive scholarship for Native Peoples in sociological scholarship. The first article uses a quantitative analysis using secondary data from the National Health Interview survey to explore how helpful sociological frameworks are in explaining health disparities in old age for the AI/AN population. The second article, using the same dataset, engages with Andersen's behavioral model of care utilization and its developments and couples it with important scholarship emerging about policy, AI/AN healthcare organization, and funding. The third article offers a qualitative analysis of reports and policy recommendations from Native organizations focused on increasing well-being for Native elders to further understand how healthcare, old age, and AI/AN specific polices work to create intersections of inequality for this group. This analysis further informs future directions for sociological theory and application to promote a more inclusive field in the sociology of aging and inequality.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Doctor of Philosophy
Level thesis:degree_level
doctoral
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Sociology
Department dc:contributor.department
Sociology
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
2022

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Giles, Sarah Elizabeth Tally
Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Calasanti, Toni M.
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Rocha Beardall, Theresa
  • Zhu, Haiyan
  • King, Neal M.

Subjects

dc:subject × 3

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright
Language dc:language.iso
en

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
vt_gsexam:34852
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/110411

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Giles, Sarah Elizabeth Tally. Policy and Health (In)Equities among Native Elders. doctoral thesis, Virginia Tech, 2022. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/110411