dr. ronald e. mcnair acknowledgements - University of St. Thomas

UST McNair Scholars Program Research Journal
Thailand or Laos. This study concluded that acculturation
of foods, store types, conveniences, and English fluency
were just some of the factors that contributed to the
surveyed Hmong individuals and their food access and
shopping behavior. 2 Improvements in the Hmong
community with health and food are problems that need
to be tackled.
While the Hmong are still struggling to become
accustomed to Western medicine and food, the need for
healthy living is a concern for all. This is directly associated
with improving access to healthcare. According to the
American Public Health Association, “while the United
States spends more on health care than any other nation in
the world, it lags behind so many developed nations in
important health measures.” 3 This particular statement
shows how health and wellness is such an important role
in our lives. Although money is spent for health purposes,
the health of the country is still poor. Healthy practices are
obtained with the availability of good, quality healthcare.
According to Lora Todovora, MPH, “people’s health is
closely related to access to health care.” 4 As health and
wellness become a larger issue in today’s society, there is a
concern about equal access to quality health and promotion
to wellness.
In this particular study, the large Hmong community
in the Twin Cities metropolitan area of Minnesota was
studied to determine their access to opportunities of
healthy living. This access to health and wellness was
determined by locating and mapping four major aspects of
the promotion of health: healthcare facilities, food sources,
and public transportation. First, the Hmong community
was mapped to identify their location in relation to the
area. Access to healthcare was determined by locating and
mapping hospitals, clinics, dentists, and other healthcare
facilities in the Twin Cities. As being healthy includes
having the choice of nutritional, affordable, and quality
food, grocery stores were mapped. Public transportation,
such as buses, light rail, and bikeways were also mapped
to provide affordable transportation to healthcare facilities
and food sources. All these features provide an
understanding of whether the Hmong community is
geographically limited to healthcare access in the Twin
Cities.
This research is based on the geographical access of
healthcare in the community. Using the Geographical
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Information System (GIS) in the University of St. Thomas
Geography Department, I propose that the Hmong
community in the Twin Cities metropolitan area lacks
geographical access to the promotion of a healthy lifestyle
due to the poor access of healthcare, food sources, and
public transportation.
LITERATURE REVIEW
In this section, I discuss the many different background
studies surrounding my research. Knowledge of who the
Hmong people are is significant, but there is also an
understanding of how complimentary geography and heath
are. This can be seen throughout various researches being
done on the Hmong community, the fields of geography
and public health, and the use of applications in GIS.
THE HMONG PEOPLE
The Hmong have traveled across the world as refugees
of war and oppression. The history of the Hmong people,
whether direct immigrants or descendents of immigrants,
is ingrained in their culture. Ancestry of the Hmong is
uncertain because of their oral and nomadic traditions.
From research, they are thought to come from China,
although those who have migrated to the United States
have come from Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand. 5 Many
American people were (and still are) unaware of the Secret
War of Laos that occurred at the same time as the Vietnam
War in the mid-1900s. As American men were fighting
against the Vietnamese, Hmong men and boys were
recruited by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in
the 1960s to battle the emergence of communism in Laos,
the Pathet Lao. The U.S. withdrew from Laos in 1975,
abandoning the Hmong as communism took power. This
created terror as “the Hmong became targets of retaliation
and persecution.” 6 Re-education of the Hmong was ordered
by the Pathet Lao through camps, and the Laos raged
chemical warfare against the Hmong. Many Hmong fled
to Thailand by crossing the Mekong River into the safety
of refugee camps. Although out of the hands of the Pathet
Lao, many did not leave until years after entering the
refugee camps. Resettlement of the Hmong resulted in
many moving to different parts of the world, such as France
and the U.S., in the 1980s and years later. Many Hmong