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Cultural Identity and Patient Trust Among Older American Indians

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ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND

Patients’ trust in healthcare providers and institutions has been identified as a likely contributor to racial-ethnic health disparities. The likely influence of patients’ cultural characteristics on trust is widely acknowledged but inadequately explored.

OBJECTIVE

To compare levels of patients’ trust in primary care provider (interpersonal trust) with trust in healthcare organizations (institutional trust) among older American Indians (AIs), and determine associations with cultural identity.

DESIGN

Patient survey administered following primary care visits.

PARTICIPANTS

Two-hundred and nineteen American Indian patients ≥ 50 years receiving care for a non-acute condition at two clinics operated by the Cherokee Nation in northeastern Oklahoma.

MAIN MEASURES

Self-reported sociodemographic and cultural characteristics. Trust was measured using three questions about interpersonal trust and one measure of institutional trust; responses ranged from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Finding substantial variation only in institutional trust, we used logistic generalized estimating equations to examine relationships of patient cultural identity with institutional trust.

KEY RESULTS

Ninety-five percent of patients reported trusting their individual provider, while only 46 % reported trusting their healthcare institution. Patients who strongly self-identified with an AI cultural identity had significantly lower institutional trust compared to those self-identifying less strongly (OR: 0.6, 95 % CI: 0.4, 0.9).

CONCLUSIONS

Interpersonal and institutional trust represent distinct dimensions of patients’ experience of care that may show important relationships to patients’ cultural characteristics. Strategies for addressing low institutional trust may have special relevance for patients who identify strongly with AI culture.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the guidance of the Cherokee Nation Institutional Review Board, as well as help in data collection and Cherokee translation from Research Assistants George Stopp and Amanda Bighorse Dominick, and from staff and volunteers at the research site. The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Boston College, the University of Iowa, Oregon State University, University of Washington, University of Colorado-Denver, or the Cherokee Nation.

Funders

Data collection and analysis was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Aging [1K01 AG022434-01A2, PI: Garroutte]. Data analysis and manuscript preparation was also supported by a grant under the Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research program [P30AG015292, PI: Manson].

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they do not have a conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Community and Behavioral Health, College of Public Health, University of Iowa, 105 River Street, N428 CPHB, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA

    Vanessa W. Simonds ScD

  2. College of Health and Human Sciences, Department of Social Work, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC, 28723, USA

    R. Turner Goins PhD

  3. Vaccine and Infectious Disease, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA

    Elizabeth M. Krantz MS

  4. Department of Sociology, Boston College, Boston, MA, USA

    Eva Marie Garroutte PhD

  5. Mountain State Area Health Education Center, Center for Healthy Aging, 121 Hendersonville Road, Asheville, NC, 28803, USA

    R. Turner Goins PhD

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  1. Vanessa W. Simonds ScD
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  2. R. Turner Goins PhD
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  4. Eva Marie Garroutte PhD
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Correspondence to Vanessa W. Simonds ScD.

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Simonds, V.W., Goins, R.T., Krantz, E.M. et al. Cultural Identity and Patient Trust Among Older American Indians. J GEN INTERN MED 29, 500–506 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-013-2578-y

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