Culturally tailored postsecondary nutrition and health education curricula for indigenous populations

BACKGROUND In preparation for the initial offering of the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), Interior-Aleutians Campus Rural Nutrition Services (RNS) program, a literature review was conducted to establish the need for the proposed program and to substantiate the methodology for delivering integrated, culturally tailored postsecondary education and extension to Alaska Natives and rural Alaskans. There was a striking absence of peer-reviewed journal articles describing culturally tailored postsecondary health curricula for indigenous populations. OBJECTIVE To complete and discuss a current (November 2012) literature review for culturally tailored postsecondary health curricula designed and delivered for indigenous populations. METHODS/DESIGN The author conducted an expanded online search that employed multiple configurations of key terms using Google and Google Scholar, as well as pertinent sources. The author located archived reports in person and contacted authors by email. RESULTS The expanded search produced a modest amount of additional literature for review. A disappointing number of publications describing or evaluating culturally tailored postsecondary health curricula in mainstream institutions are available. Related resources on culturally tailored extension and resources for the development and delivery of culturally tailored nutrition and health curricula were identified. CONCLUSIONS The present results demonstrate a significant absence of literature on the topic, which may or may not indicate the absence of sufficient culturally tailored postsecondary health curricula for indigenous populations. There are indications that culturally tailored postsecondary health curricula for indigenous populations have the potential to effectively address certain issues of health literacy and health disparities.