...Health disparities among racial and ethnic groups present a complex national issue. ….Health disparities are the differences in frequency, commonly occurring, raising the death rate, diseases that are difficult to bear, and other adverse health conditions or outcome that exists among specific population groups in the United States. …The specific population groups can be based on gender, age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, geography, sexual orientation, disability, or special health care needs. Health disparities occur among groups who have persistently experienced historic trauma, social disadvantage, or discrimination. They are widespread in the United States as demonstrated by the fact that many minority groups in the United States have a higher incidence of chronic diseases, higher mortality, and poorer health outcomes when compared to whites.” ( Multicultural Health. n.d., p.14) …The causes of health disparities are due to both voluntary and involuntary factors. Voluntary factors are related to health behaviors, such as smoking and diet, and can be avoided. …Factors such as genetics, living and working in unhealthy conditions, limited or no access to health care, language barriers, limited financial resources, and low health literacy skills are often viewed as being involuntary and unfair, because they are not within that person’s control.”(Multicultural Health., n.d., p.19) From the research reported by the institute of medicine an overwhelming body of evidence in the...
Words: 568 - Pages: 3
...thus live a much healthier and productive life. Katterl (2011) indicated the environments in which people are exposed to impact health, health-promoting or negating behaviors that people engage and utilization of health care services are some ways in which socioeconomics states is often related to health. People are living longer and financially we are in a bind as a nation.The aging population is a vulnerable community due to high susceptibility to plaguing life conditions such as morbidity and mortality; Studies on the aged have established that older women are even more universally exposed to socioeconomic vulnerabilities which...
Words: 286 - Pages: 2
...Health Care Disparities Latanya Breeden Capella University Health Care Disparities America benefits when everyone has the opportunity to live a long, healthy and productive life, yet health disparities persist. A health disparity is a difference in health outcomes across subgroups of the population, often linked to social, economic, or environmental disadvantages (less access to good jobs, unsafe neighborhoods, and lack of affordable transportation options). Health disparities adversely affect groups of people who have systematically experienced greater obstacles to health on the basis of their racial or ethnic group, religion, socioeconomic status, gender, age, mental health, cognitive, sensory, or physical disability, sexual orientation or gender identity, geographic location, or other characteristics historically linked to discrimination or exclusion. The issues that involved in education and lifestyle choice disparities are the socioeconomic circumstances of persons and the places where they live and work strongly influence their health. In the United States, as elsewhere, the risk for mortality, morbidity, unhealthy behaviors, reduced access to health care, and poor quality of care increases with decreasing socioeconomic circumstances. This association is continuous and graded across a population and cumulative over the life course. Educational attainment and family or household income are two indicators used commonly to assess the influence...
Words: 383 - Pages: 2
...Healthcare disparities This article entitled; Racial and ethnic disparities in health care, updated 2010, written by American College of Physicians, presents the reality of the racial and ethnic disparities in health care and made some recommendations to reduce this gaps. Although improvements have been seen in health care quality and some disparities have been reduced or eliminated, differences persist in health care quality among members of various racial and ethnic minority groups. Irrefutable evidence indicates that racial and ethnic minorities are subject to quality care less healthy than white Americans, even when factors such as insurance status are controlled. Since the population continues to grow and diversify the health care system must change and adapt to meet the needs of a patient more and more multicultural. In 2003, the American College of Physicians, which is now the greatest medical specialty society in the United States with physicians and medical student members, published racial and ethnic disparities paper Healthcare (www. acponline.org / ppvl / policies / e000904.pdf). The document provides some recommendations on how the gap between patients’s racial and ethnic minorities and their white counterparts can be reduced. Unfortunately, even though progress has been achieved in some areas the question of the racial and ethnic disparities remains a difficult and complex problem to tackle. This update of the 2003 document adopts recommendations that still...
Words: 628 - Pages: 3
...By definition, A public Health Disparities are preventable differences in the burden of disease,injury,violence,or opportunities to achieve optimal health that are experienced by socially disadvantage population.Health disparities are inequitable, and directly related to the historical, and current unequal distribution of social,political,economic,and environmental resources. Health disparities result from multiple factors,including,Poverty.Environmental threads.Inadequate access to health care.Individual and Behavioral factors.Education inequalities Black Women have Higher Death rate from breast cancer than other women..Nearly 40,000 women die every year from breast cancer.Black women are %40 more likely to die from Brest cancer than white women. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths,among women in the US.The reason for this fact is because of the fewer economical and social resources,genetic,and lack of information,in compare to the aggressiveness of the cancer.The federal Government and the health facilities should play a big rule by implementing the affordable care act, and to educate the women about the preventive benefit and coverage provided by the law, including coverage of mammograms with out co-pay,beginning in 2014.Increase the programs that raise up the knowledge and the awareness among these women such as ,The early detection programs,and the follow up care. The local health agencies,the medical field personnel,Doctors and Nurses,have the...
Words: 320 - Pages: 2
...assignment, I chose the disparity of proper healthcare provided to the LGBT+ community. Those who identify with the LGBT+ community includes gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgenders and many other sexual orientations and gender identities. Those who are part of this community has, historically, faced discrimination in the healthcare profession, and therefore has caused many individuals to shy away from seeking proper medical treatment for fear of discrimination. With the fear of discrimination present, any number of conditions can go untreated. In the case specifically of LGBTQ+ identifying individuals, some healthcare-related concerns include presenting for treatment late in the disease pathway; experience inadequate levels of care...
Words: 1360 - Pages: 6
...competency in the health sector and reduce health disparities among the ethnic population, the US Department of Health and Human Services have come up with an Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities that organizations in the health sector will have to prepare to incorporate in their own plans. Under this plan, there are five goals listed: 1. Transforming health care; 2. Strengthening the infrastructure and workforce of the nation's health and human services; 3. Advancing the health, safety, and well-being of American people; 4. Advancing scientific knowledge and innovation; and 5. Increasing the efficiency, transparency, and accountability of HHS programs (Jackson and Gracia, 2014). This gives organizations...
Words: 792 - Pages: 4
...Health disparities are defined as unequal burdens in disease morbidity and mortality rates which are often experienced by the minority racial/ethnic groups. In today’s population ethnic and racial disparities exist for various and intricate reasons, which has grave impacts on an individual’s access to health care. These disparities have been around for several centuries and continue to be problematic despite the little progression being made with the revisions of preexisting health care laws. Laws and regulations are continually being revised to allow further health insurance expansions in hopes to reduce the ethnic and racial disparities for access to adequate care. Even with the increase in awareness, policymakers and clinicians have...
Words: 1320 - Pages: 6
...Health Care Disparities: Central of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defined heal disparities as “the differences in health outcomes and their causes among group of people.” These differences are closely linked with some racial and ethnic minorities, such as social, economic, and/or environmental (CDC, 2011). Health disparities are the metrics used to measure the health equity, where health equity represents providing qualified health care services for different groups of populations regardless there race, ethnicity, sex, sexual identity, age, disability, socioeconomic status, and geographic location (Georges, Benjamin, 2015). In the U.S. health care disparities is one of the longstanding health challenges with severe influences not only...
Words: 697 - Pages: 3
...the approaches, disparities still exist as one of the major concerns in health and health care today. We made a little progress comparing to the years before in addressing this issue. In addition, the Affordable Care Act offer opportunities to tackle this issue vigorously. I firmly believe that it will be a much bigger issue if we do not eliminate the disparities now it will be very challenging when the US population becomes much more diverse. However, this policy memo addresses this particular issue, summarizes the causes or issues known about health and health care disparities, and provides recommendations and approaches to confront it. Causes Healthcare disparities are references to the differences that exist...
Words: 895 - Pages: 4
...Healthcare disparities continues to be an issue, despite the progress and improvement in healthcare. Racial disparities, primarily associated with certain population is overwhelmingly caused by lack of health insurance coverage, assess to care and the quality of care received. Social determinant also plays a major role in healthcare outcomes for individuals. In the more affluent areas of communities across the country the life expectancy increases tremendously. In the poor and low income areas, individuals are plagued with health issues and lack of the basic resources for survival. Why is this? It comes down wealth and access to resources. More resources and opportunity are in areas where there is wealth. With the implementation of the affordable care act provisions have been made to help mitigate some of the challenges seen regarding access to care. For example, Maryland has pocket of community in low income areas that do not have access to healthcare. I know this trend occurs across the country. The question is what to do to...
Words: 515 - Pages: 3
...United States has a health care system that reflects the values, beliefs and cultural norms of its society. The ideals of capitalism, free enterprise and the desire to be involved in cutting edge medicine and technology are all inherent characteristics that have been critical in the development of the current health care system. These foundational characteristics, however, have also created a health care crisis resulting in increased cost for health care, inequities in access to health care and a fragmented infrastructure. One of the major problems with the United States health care system is cost. The United States spent over 3 trillion dollars on health care in 2014 (Martin, Hartman, Benson, Catlin, & National Health Expenditure Accounts...
Words: 598 - Pages: 3
...MPH 5220 U02D1 Barriers to Reducing Disparities in Health Care July 17, 2013 The purpose of this post is to disseminate the learners view regarding the barriers to reducing disparities in health care. The National Library of Medicine defines Healthcare disparities as a “differences in access to or availability of facilities and services,” and “Health status disparities refer to the variation in rates of disease occurrence and disabilities between socioeconomic and/or geographically defined population groups” (U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2013). A barrier to reducing disparities based on race and ethnicity is to increase education related to those chronic diseases that most affect communities of color. Community Outreach and Public Engagement/Cultural Competencies are used within the public sector; however, the effectiveness of these programs must be questioned. Rebecca Voelker (2008) states, “Not only did treatment disparities persist; the magnitude of the disparities did not diminish” (Voelker, 2008), the ineffectiveness of health care programs persist and perpetuates the cycle of health care disparity and health status disparity. Voelker references the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH 2010) a pilot program in South Carolina and Georgia, which are examples of effective outreach to communities of colors, these programs were managed effectively and precisely, thus they were able to reduce the disparity gaps per disease (Voelker, 2008). Voelker’s...
Words: 317 - Pages: 2
...Mental Health Care Disparities: Consequences of Ineffectiveness and Lack of Access for Minorities Ebony Marinnie RN Rowan University Mental Health Care Disparities: Consequences of ineffectiveness and lack of access for minorities For ages mental illness has been seen as the ultimate curse. The mentally ill were seen as possessed, hidden from society, and never talked about. In America, it is estimated that 26.2 percent of people ages 18 and older suffer from a diagnosed mental disorder in a given year (Kessler,Chiu, Walters, & Demler, 2005). The aforementioned statistics reflect those that have sought or been forced into treatment. There are many left uncounted due to lack of access and ineffective treatment secondary to a number of reasons. Considering history, discrimination, personal perception, socioeconomic status, educational backgrounds and a host of other reasons many minority groups are reluctant to seek out treatment in what many may consider a system of mental health created and sustained primarily for the middle and upper-class White America. In fact, 60 percent of people with mental illnesses do not receive treatment (Kessler et al., 2005). The purpose of this paper is to discuss mental health care disparities in minority populations within American society, and to suggest some needed changes to close the gap in America. One quarter of all Americans meet the criteria for having a mental illness and a quarter of those have a disorder that significantly...
Words: 2360 - Pages: 10
...Running head: ASSIGNMENT 1, WEEK 6 Assignment 1 Teassa Eubanks Cultural Diversity in Health and Illness Mansour Rostami, Instructor November 13, 2010 Minority Population | Health disparities | Native American Indian Native Alaskan | Health disparities are believed to be the result of the complex interaction among genetic variations, environmental factors, and specific health behaviors. Compared with other Americans, Indians experience disproportionately high mortality from alcoholism, tuberculosis, diabetes, injuries, suicide, and homicide. Tribal leaders report that diabetes, unintentional injuries, alcoholism, and substance abuse are rising to crisis proportions in American Indian and Alaska Native communities | Asian | Lack of access to regular care. Asians are least likely to report having a personal doctor compared to other racial and ethnic groups in the US. 19.4 % of Asian adults compared to 12.9% of whites report being without a usual source of health care. Cambodians and Vietnamese are three times more likely to forgo visiting a doctordue to cost compared to all Asians or US residents.• Less satisfaction with care. Compared to other racial and ethnic groups, Asians are least likely to be satisfied with the speed of their care, doctor-patient communication, and office staff.• Fewer preventive services. Asians are less likely to have blood pressure monitoring and pap smears. In fact,cervical cancer screening...
Words: 1475 - Pages: 6
