Khari LaMarca
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Khari LaMarca 2002 fellow
Bold Idea
Develop and deliver services that address the unmet needs of American Indian and Alaskan Native people with cancer.
Organization
Due to late stage discovery and/or reoccurrence, fifty percent of American Indians (AI) and Alaska Native (AN) patients diagnosed with cancer do not survive. Underserved AI/AN patients are especially at risk due to a multiplicity of causes including economics, poor communication, limited information, and cultural factors. There is currently no tribal nation that has adequate palliative care, including cancer pain management or hospice services, nor are there any coordinated program efforts to address the issues of cancer pain and palliative care for American Indians and Alaskan Natives. The Unbroken Circle Project is a grassroots program working within the national Native community to initiate services that address the unmet needs of AI/ANs by: Connecting patients to a national network of resources, working with survivors to create programs tailored to their unique needs, providing specialized and confidential upport, and raising national awareness of the needs of this community.
Biography
Khari La Marca is the Founder/Executive Director of The Unbroken Circle (UBC). Seed-funded by Echoing Green in 2002, UBC works to end disparities in pain management and palliative care for minority populations nationally. Khari has worked in the field of international health and health education and training for almost 30 years. Her expertise lies in cross-cultural materials and program development and implementation, communication, the provision of technical assistance for Native and other special populations, alliance, advocacy, and partnership development, capacity and coalition building, participatory research, formative research, and ethnography, community/professional education and training, transformational leadership, and social change.
