For the past two years, UA Zuckerman College of Public Health graduate students have traveled to the rural community of Hardrock in northern Arizona to gain greater insight into the cultural uniqueness of this community.

Thanks to fellowships provided by the college’s Center for Health Equality, a center funded by the National Institutes of Health, these students work to reduce and eliminate health disparities, particularly with diabetes and substance abuse. The fellowships train students from underserved and  underprivileged communities to become skilled and culturally-responsive health professionals.

The Center partners and collaborates with two communities: urban Hispanics from the Sunnyside and Elvira neighborhoods of southside Tucson and rural American Indians from the community of Hardrock on the Navajo Nation.

“Service-learning projects and cultural immersion trips help students develop an appreciation for the lives and experiences of our partner communities,” noted Brenda Manuelito, program director for health disparities at the college. “It strengthens the link between university-community partnerships in order to reduce and eliminate health  disparities.” 

Prior to the trip, the students were oriented about the historical and sociopolitical issues that shape Hardrock. They also visited the Tuba City Regional Health Care Corp., one of two hospitals more than 60 miles from Hardrock that serve the medical and emergency needs of the community. Traveling washboard roads made the students aware of how weather and distance become barriers to health care services.

“The poor road conditions and travel time to the elders’ homes was inconvenient, especially in the snow and mud. But the long car rides gave us the chance to witness and talk about transportation problems relating to access to care,” said Gail Bradford, a first-year public health graduate student. 

Hardrock residents shared various  community-university health promotion projects already in place, such as the development of a community healing garden and a summer youth program. Students learned about the economic

exploitation of Navajo weavers and how grazing and water rights affect their ability to raise and herd sheep; as a result, the overall health and well-being of the Hardrock community is  diminished. 

The students experienced rural living by spending time in homes in the community, many of which lacked modern amenities like running water, heating and plumbing. Students experienced the daily chores of stoking and keeping the woodstove burning, hauling and chopping wood, rolling homespun wool yarn, and herding sheep. Last spring, two students watched the birth and care of a lamb. In some instances, a host family did not speak English. Despite the language barrier and cultural differences, students and families found similarities and formed a bond through shared experience. 

“I am beginning to learn about community-based service in my course work, but it wasn’t until our trip that I realized how truly beneficial the implications of this research can be to the community,” said Bradford.

Article taken from UA Visitors Guide Fall/Winter 2006 Issue

Photo by Gloria Johnson, Project EXPORT fellow