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Racial and ethnic disparities in the U.S. health care system
Explore the relationship between social determinants of health and health disparities
Racial and ethnic disparities in the U.S. health care system
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Racial and ethnic health disparities has weaken the health care system in the United States. According to FamiliesUSA (2017), Latinos predominantly suffers from some health conditions and are more prevalent to illness or get sicker, have severe complications and die from the illness. As reported, the predominant health issues with the Latinos adults are asthma, tuberculosis, cervical cancer, liver disease, obesity, HIV and diabetes. For Latinos children, infant mortality, asthma, obesity and depression are said to be the top list compare to Caucasians (LaVeist, 2005). With those disparities, evidence proposal that social and economic factors have significant determinants. LaVeist (2005), suggests that socioeconomic, socioenvironmental, behavioral and access to, and use of, health care services are major contribution to health disparities between the Latinos and the Caucasians. …show more content…
The measurement of the socioeconomic status, includes personal and family income, poverty rates, education, and occupation. Despite the poverty, less education, and poor access to health care, statistics shows that the health outcomes of the Latinos living in the United States are equal to, or better than, non-Hispanic or African Americans (Kominski, 2014). Behavioral or lifestyles is another major contribution. Low socioeconomic status is said to be associated with unhealthy behaviors. For example cigarettes smoking, overweight due to poor eating habit, and physically inactive are more dominant among the lower socioeconomic rank, which the majority of the Latinos fall under compare to the Caucasians of high socioeconomic category. In addition, Kominski (2014) states that the Latinos tend to delayed seeking care not until their medical condition gets
Health Disparities and Racism is an ongoing problem that is reflected among society. Health is when an individual is physically, mentally and social well being is complete. However health disparities seems to be a social injustice within various ethnicities. Health disparities range from age, race, income, education and many other things. Even though we realize health disparities are more noticeable depending on the region of country where they live in. Racism is one of the most popular factors, for why it’s known that people struggle with health.
Diabetes is a prevalent health disparity among the Latino population. Diabetes is listed as the fifth leading cause of death among the Latino population in the website for Center for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, in 2009. According to McBean, “the 2001 prevalence among Hispanics was significantly higher than among blacks.” (2317) In other words among the Hispanic or Latino community, there is a higher occurrence of diabetes as compared to other racial/ethnic groups such as Blacks and Native Americans. The prevalence of diabetes among Latinos is attributed to the social determinants of health such as low socioeconomic status and level of education. Further, this becomes an important public health issue when it costs the United States $174 billion in both direct and indirect costs, based on the 2007 The National Diabetes Fact Sheet released by the CDC. In turn, medical expenses are twice as high for a patient that has diabetes as opposed to one without. Finally, this high cost becomes another barrier to receiving care for Latinos when some are in the low socioeconomic status.
Large disparities exist between minorities and the rest of Americans in major areas of health. Even though the overall health of the nation is improving, minorities suffer from certain diseases up to five times more than the rest of the nation. President Clinton has committed the nation to eliminating the disparities in six areas of health by the Year 2010, and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will be jumping in on this huge battle. The six areas are: Infant Mortality, Cancer Screening and Management, Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes, HIV Infection and AIDS, and Child and Adult Immunizations.
Healthcare disparities are when there are inequalities or differences of the conditions of health and the quality of care that is received among specific groups of people such as African Americans, Caucasians, Asians, or Hispanics. Not only does it occur between racial and ethnic groups, health disparities can happen between males and females as well. Minorities have the worst healthcare outcomes, higher death rates, and are more prone to terminal diseases. For African American men and women, some of the most common health disparities are diabetes, cancer, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and HIV infections. Some factors that can contribute to disparities are healthcare access, transportation, specialist referrals, and non-effective communication with patients. There is also much racism that still occurs today, which can be another reason African Americans may be mistreated with their healthcare. “Although both black and white patients tended not to endorse the existence of racism in the medical system, African Americans patients were more likely to perceive racism” (Laveist, Nickerson, Bowie, 2000). Over the years, the health care system has made improvements but some Americans, such as African Americans, are still being treating unequally when wanting the same care they desire as everyone else.
Therefore, considering these issues is an impediment when discussing the disparities in health. Some minorities are disadvantaged in the current healthcare while some are not. However, it is complicated to identify reasons for inequalities because health outcome is a result of numerous interactions with factors including the individual’s access to care, the quality of care provided, health behaviors such as tobacco and alcohol consumption, the presence or absence of complicating conditions, and personal attitudes toward health and medicine. Therefore, Examining existing racial and ethnic issues, developing potential solutions for current disparities, and preparing for future challenges as shifts in trends emerge are essential aspects of health care improvements” (Boslaugh,
The goal within the United States government is to treat each individual as an equal citizen. Unfortunately, through the inadequate practice of public policies people have been treated unequal because of natural conditions and the countries social environment. In health policy, the two concepts that cause unequal treatment are health disparities and health differences. Health disparities are resulted from social factors that are avoidable and unjust. For example, saying ovarian cancer death rates are higher because men have better research on prostate cancer (Smith, 2016). “The extent and nature of health disparities changes over the life course” (Adler, 2008, p. 241). Health differences are inherently biological being completely natural and
One of the most significant cultural issues impacting this situation is that Hispanics in the US have the highest rates of uninsured people, and the lowest rates of screening for cardiovascular disease and risks. Furthermore the Lavie and Lopez-Jimenez explain that besides healthcare coverage, and quality services there aren't enough epidemiologic studies and cardiovascular disease research focused on Hispanics (2014, pp.1). The diverse nature of Hispanics also amplifies this issue. The article also focuses on the “Hispanic Paradox” and how this issue impacts the situation. This paradox points out that even though Hispanics have “a higher prevalence of CVD risk factors and disadvantageous socio-economic situations” in the US they have a higher life expectancy
Health Promotion Among the Hispanic Minority Health is determined in the nation by the minority health. "Approximately 36 percent of the population belongs to a racial or ethnic minority group" (CDC, 2015).One of these are the "Hispanics or Latinos are the largest racial/ethnic minority population in the United States" (CDC, 2015). "About 1 in 6 people living in the US are Hispanic" (CDC, 2015). Therefore, this student will make the comparison between the status of the health of Hispanic minority and the nations ,barriers of health behavior This paper will compare the health status of the Hispanic minority with the nations, barriers to health seeking behaviors, and methods of promoting health among this population. Status of Health Among Hispanic Minority "Heart disease and cancer in Hispanics are the two leading causes of death, accounting for about 2 of 5 deaths, which is about the same for whites" (CDC, 2015). "Hispanics have more deaths from diabetes and chronic liver disease than whites, and similar numbers of deaths from kidney disease" (CDC, 2015). Even though the percentage of Hispanics suffering from high blood pressure are17% in comparison to 20% of whites. Hispanics are 68% that suffered poorly controlled high blood pressure compare to whites which are 54%. Even though Health risks may vary among Hispanic subgroup and whether they are US born or not. Lower death rate is suffered by the Hispanic than whites .But Hispanic has about 50% higher death rate from diabetes. Many deaths may be prevented within the Hispanic population with an increase in education and health screening . Barriers to Health Promotion in the Hispanic Minority "Social factors may play a major role in Hispanic health" (CDC, 2015). According to the art...
These differences occur as a result of culture, race and geographical location as well as socioeconomic status (Andrews, & Boyle, 2008). Health disparities affect racial and ethnic minorities, low-income groups, women, children, older adults, residents of rural areas, and individuals with disabilities and special care needs (National Institutes of Health, 2010). Health disparities result in inadequate health care for affected populations with significant medical problems. Inadequate health care delivered in an untimely fashion ultimately requires more intervention to resolve worsening problems and also increases health care expenses for individuals, families, and communities (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2008).
Recently, significant attention has focused on racial disparities in health care and health status in the medical community. Epidemiology and risk distribution are important for a wholesome medical education, and risk distribution by race can inform a clinician's diagnosis. However, when health care professionals identify race as a risk factor for certain diseases, that information may be disingenuous if the authors misperceive race with income, education, or behavior. In other words, many other factors besides race affect disease prediction, and are, in some cases, stronger predictors of disease and disease outcomes. In a study done by Sheets et al., evaluating the “validity of attributing race as a risk factor in a widely used pathology book…
The most important of these is the lack of access to mental health services the Hispanic population experience. They are affected by mental health problems at rates that are similar or higher to those of the general population (APA). They are therefore a very high-risk group because of the disparities they experience in seeking social services and following up with treatment. Hispanics are the highest minority population in the United States. It has therefore taken the attention of major stakeholders because of the lack of social services that are available to them, especially those with mental health. For example, the Surgeon General in 2001 made a report titled Mental Health: Culture, Race, and Ethnicity, in which he stressed on the need to eliminate disparities in the utilization of mental health services among Latinos as a top priority. He concluded that the disparities they experience have contributed to major depressive disorders among them and has led to chronic illnesses. It has led to a high degree of functional limitation among them than among other populations. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) also contributed to this discussion in its report titled Unequal Treatment. They defined disparity as differences between racial-ethnic minority groups and whites that have contributed to both socio-economic and health care disparities that are for most of the time against
Even though the life expectancy in the nation has increased, African-Americans have the shortest life expectancy compared to other groups (Disparities in Health and Health Care, 2012). Though African-Americans consist of a moderately lesser fraction of the U.S. population, they habitually undergo a grander percentage of frequency of the various leading health illnesses in the nation. This is all as a result of health disparities. African-Americans have an inclusive incidence of suffering and dying from cancer, have double the rate of infant death than that of Caucasians and a higher risk of death from heart disease and strokes than Caucasian Americans (Davis & Haynie, 2009). In addition, African-Americans record the highest blood pressure rate than any other racial group and are more likely to be diagnosed with HIV/AIDS than
There are significances between Latino children who are from immigrated parents and children who are from U.S. born parents in relations to mental health, stressors to mental health, services obtained, and more. 20.4% of children of immigrants were born outside of the U.S., and only 3.5% of Latino children of native-born parents were born outside of the U.S. (Dettlaff et al., 2009). Children of immigrants are twice as likely as children with U.S. born parents to be reported in fair or poor health; they are also at risk for slower cognitive and language development (Clapp & Fortuny, 2009). According to Dettlaff et al. (2009), 29% of children of immigrants have parents with less a high school education while compared to only 8% of children of
The health outcomes of citizens have been significantly impacted by this when looking at particular populations of people in the country. Research outlines racial and financial disparities
Sixty-three percent of African American adults below the poverty line described having one out of the four chronic diseases (hypertension, heart disease, diabetes or asthma) or a disability, compared to half of low-income whites and 39 percent of low-income Hispanic adults. Forty-five percent of African American adults whom are considered below the poverty line reported health problems, compared to 32 percent of whites and 23 percent of Hispanics in the higher income group (CDC