A Critical Condition:
Encouraging Indian Writers to Engage Health Issues

Five Calls a Day

Stovall said she has received a minimum of five calls and email messages a day from interested people from Wisconsin, Arizona, New York and New Mexico.

"It's such a wonderful opportunity," Stovall said.

Garcia said the struggle the Zunis have in their community is behavioral and attitudinal change.

"You can treat and teach," Garcia said. "But sometimes that is not enough. ...What is needed is to introduce relevant information, which is culturally tied so they can make the connection."

Pamela Stovall of the
University of New Mexico-Gallup
(Photo by Regina McCabe)

Garcia gave diabetes as an example.

"The self-destructive behaviors are tied to a certain way of life developed over the years," she said. "Some of them say, 'Oh well, this my road of life' and give up.... We need to somehow let them overcome this attitude (so) it can be controlled."

Stovall said she wrote the grant last summer and was notified in August of the award. The HealthWriters Institute received "roughly $80,000, which covers stipends, educational materials, hotel and meal expenses, transportation from the hotel to campus, and field trips," she said.

The institute will have instructors to teach health writing and layout and design. Guest speakers will talk about different health issues that Native American communities face. The topics will be a mix of traditional and Western medicine, Stovall said.

"Upon successful completion of the 10-day institute, participants will receive a $500 stipend" and health promotion materials to take home, she said.

Regina McCabe, Navajo, attends the University of New Mexico-Gallup. She is a 2003 graduate of the Freedom Forum's American Indian Journalism Institute.

Editor's Note: The 15 spots for this year's Health Writers Institute have been filled.
Professor Stovall hopes to continue the program next year.

For more information on the Health Writers Institute, visit
http://www.gallup.unm.edu/healthwriters/