Previous studies have suggested that African Americans are more likely to prefer aggressive end-of-life (EOL) care. However, the relationship of low health literacy on EOL decision-making has not been investigated. The researchers hypothesized that health literacy, not race, would predict preferences for care at EOL. They also hypothesized that a video of a patient with advanced dementia would overcome communication barriers associated with low health literacy. A total of 144 subjects participated in the study, 80 African Americans and 64 whites. They were all over the age of 40 years and were drawn from six study sites at urban and suburban primary care clinics in the greater Boston area. Two white, male physicians conducted interviews between …show more content…
The same verbal description of advanced dementia accompanied the video. At the conclusion of the video, each participant was asked the same question regarding preferences for level of care. Finally, health literacy was measured using the validated Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine (REALM) tool and three categories of health literacy were defined: low literacy; marginal literacy; and adequate literacy. Race, health literacy level, and preference for care after hearing a verbal description of advanced dementia were compared to preference for care after viewing the video. After verbal description of advanced dementia, African Americans were more likely to have preferences for aggressive care than whites. Also, preferences after the verbal description were strongly associated with health literacy. Participants with low health literacy were more likely to have preferences for aggressive care compared to participants with adequate health literacy. However, after the participants viewed the video, their preferences were statistically significant different (p<0.0001) than after hearing the verbal description: no whites and only 13% of African Americans preferred aggressive
However, the only aspect the state has control over is the educational related reasons for missed diagnosis. Primary care physicians need access, on a biennial basis, to receive the most up to date information about what changes are “normal” in aging and what is not. As we know,**********There are numerous difficulties for physicians when detecting and managing dementia. Among these difficulties there is patient avoidance, combined with the lack of resources and absence of assessment tools and protocols. All of these difficulties are joined with the unavoidable stigma that encapsulates the disease.
Has important information about population, mortality, birth rates, different health risk factors between children, adolescents and adults with obesity. All this data can be contributed to my report because it has information on all types of topics that can impact the profession of a doctor. There is data on almost all different types of health problems that have caused many deaths in the U.S.. Also there is a section on this book that talks about the use of prescription drugs between the age of 18 and below. Knowing this information it is valuable to make a strong argument in my paper because doctors are the reason why there is a high rate of prescription drug abuse.
What is the projected demand for workers in the health care field over the next 20 years? The demand for primary care services has stimulated the training of nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and certified nurse midwives who can deliver basic primary care to patients without access to primary care physicians. How does the aging of the population, health insurance reimbursement, and consumer demand impact the practice patterns of health care clinicians? A physician shortage is expected by 2020, primarily driven by the demand for physician services.
Health literacy is a term we talked about in class and can be defined as an individual’s ability to find, understand, and use health-related information. Muvuka, et al., mentioned that lower health literacy levels affect racial and ethnic minorities disproportionately more than White people (2020). Further stating that about 58% of Blacks had basic or below basic health literacy language. Although these statistics did not include just the maternal health population, it still is a great guiding factor in determining that the Black maternal health population has a lower health literacy. The authors also mention that lower health literacy impacts disparities in health behaviors, access to healthcare resources, and health outcomes (Murvuka, et al., 2020).
“African Americans and Alzheimer ’s disease: Role of Health Educators in Addressing this Silent Epidemic,” written by Deborah A. Fortune, PhD, MCHES Rosalyn Lang, PhD, Sharon Cook, PhD, Goldie S. Byrd, PhD, Is an article that focuses on the role of the health educator in relation to the awareness and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease. The Alzheimer’s disease epidemic, health disparities amongst African Americans, and how health education are the main points that the article covers. I chose this article because it depicts exactly what I want to do when I graduate. The article also provides valuable information about an epidemic that plagues the African American Community. We have been talking about health disparities in class, which has influenced me to choose this article.
With the ongoing changes on policies in healthcare, it is imperative to consider the legal and ethical issues in health disparities and access to care based on the socioeconomic status. Research have shown over the past 25 years that disparities in the quality of care are highly influenced by individual characteristics such as race, gender, ethnicity, education, income, and age. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) recognized that providing care is not simply a “one size fits all” approach especially with the diverse population in today’s society. As healthcare professionals, we need to be alert and know how to properly intervene with such disparities so that the care provided is tailored to the individual.
This highlights the importance of education and understanding of end-of-life options, as it can help reduce stigma and increase empathy towards those who are facing terminal illnesses. It also emphasizes the need for open and honest conversations around death and dying, as well as the ethical and moral considerations surrounding
Healthcare providers must understand how health traditions and views impact health outcomes in African American communities. Each culture has different preferences for how they navigate healthcare systems, so it is imperative health providers are culturally competent in care for all cultures. Health literacy is a major factor in the African American community, which stems from multiple barriers to healthcare. Low health literacy in Black communities is rooted in historical power structures where discriminatory policies were present systems (Muvuka et al., 2020). When there are discriminatory policies and practices are in place, it hinders individuals from accessing skills and resources to understand health outcomes.
Participants were measured for implicit racial biases using the traditional race preference IAT as well as the race medical cooperativeness IAT either before (the experimental group) or after (the control group) reviewing the case study and determining a treatment
In this article, researchers noticed that racial disparities in health care are still prevalent in the United States and the outcome and treatments that blacks and Latinos, when compared to those of white patients, receive are as big as they were 50 years ago. The article looks at several different ways that institutions, such as the University of California, San Francisco, are introducing new methods to training programs that allow doctors in training to realize their own prejudices when working with patients. The article also discusses a 2007 Harvard study that shows that the traditional diversity training used in the 80’s and 90’s was not working and reinforces and confirms racial bias. In this study, researchers studied the disparities
Expanding accessibility to affordable healthcare insurance is one way in which our country can begin to increase healthcare that is patient and family centered. One reason for existing disparities are the expenses associated with seeking healthcare. For some people, while the actual monthly payments of their health insurance is affordable, patients still face high deductibles or high out of pocket maximums. By making health insurance attainable for the majority of Americans, this alone is only the first step toward reducing some of the existing health disparities. Money alone is a factor that can deter people from seeking preventive treatment and screenings.
Historically discrimination against minority groups has been a reoccurring problem in the U.S. In 1857 the U.S. Supreme Court denied citizenship and basic rights to African Americans (Civil rights, 2015). Over time, through many legal and legislative acts African Americans were slowly granted full rights. Today, the issue of unconscious racial bias among doctors is prevalent in America. These physicians tend to demonstrate dominate conversations with African Americans during visits, pay less attention to the patients emotional and social needs and make the patient feel less involved in decision making (medical news today, 2012).
between a span of 2000 and 2010, the prevalence concerning chronic disease comorbidities have increased from 32.2-42.4% for Hispanics and African American population from 43.8-51.6% in people 65 and older. In order to get these numbers to start decreasing those that work in healthcare must first understand the social determinants of health such as conditions where people are born, grow up and live. One social determinant that affects a population access to health is socioeconomic status. Low socioeconomic status is seemingly the most common cause for health care disparities. Socioeconomic status is characterized by a person’s or group’s social standing, education, income and occupation.
Cultural and language barriers play an important role in patient-provider communication. American health care system is unique among industrialized countries in areas such as technology, scientific discoveries, laws and codes of conduct related to the healthcare system. Despite these advances, the American healthcare system is inefficient compared to other advanced industrialized countries’ healthcare systems. After reading, “The Spirit Catches you and you Fall Down” by Anne Fadiman, uncovers the area that we need to focus on to be a more efficient healthcare system. Evidence and statistics suggest that population in the United States is growing to be more culturally diverse.
These factors increase the minority groups of being uninsured, lack of health care accessibility, receive poorer quality care and experiencing worse health outcomes, including low income individuals and black people (Ubri & Artiga, 2016). In United States, the healthcare disparities are very obvious and it can be clearly seen between urban and rural