Although a consensus has not yet been reached defining what is fully considered to be a disparity in health care, statistics prove that ethnic minorities have been receiving a significantly lower quality in health care in comparison to that of the other American citizens. In comparison to that quality received by whites, African Americans receive worse care by 40% of core measures, Asians by about 20%, Hispanics by about 60%, and the impoverished by about 80% of core measures. However, studies are able to provide great insight as to which factors may be causing the large discrepencies in health care between ethnicities and races. In a cross-sectional analysis of 54,968 respondents conducted by California Health Interview Survey in 2001, approximately
provides a view of a field that embraces the paradigm shift that focuses on the health and health care away from the white majority and towards the diverse experiences of racial and ethnic minorities. Of particular the author talks about the complexities of health disparities from preventing chronic conditions in minority population including both domestic and international perspectives. The author further refers to social policy and the role of race and ethnicity in health research, social factors contributing to mortality, longevity and life expectancy, quantitative and demographic analysis and access and utilization of health services. LaVeist’s intended audience is undergraduate and graduate student but a wider audience exists such as community
In chapter thirteen, Hispanic/Latino health issues, Thomas A. LaVeist examine the health status of the Hispanic/Latino population. The Hispanic and Latino group is the largest nonwhite racial and ethnic group in the U.S. The Hispanics and Latinos have overall good health but can have some trouble when it comes to accessing good quality health care. A lot of Hispanics and Latinos are uninsured. With being uninsured, it’s hard to get the proper health care that is needed.
The diversity in the United States continues to grow, increasing the demand of creating more cultural competent programs. Health outcomes are addressed by race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. In research. race and ethnicity are potential predictors for a particular outcome. There is need for more research studies in order to provide an understanding of the different needs among ethnic minority groups.
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
Health disparities have been an issue all over the world. In the United States, individual and community activism have been seen in an attempt to address the health inequalities of the underrepresented groups tracing back to 1781 (Mitchell, 2015). With the passing of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the hope for social equality and justice through insurance for all remains complex. The legislation will certainly provide better health outcomes, but health advocacy remains an important aspect in changing the landscape of our health system. A study indicated that the overall rate of insurance coverage increased and a decreased in “coverage disparities related to race and ethnicity” was noted a few years after the ACA was passed (Buchmueller,
Health Care in the US is arguably available to all who seek it but not everybody has had the same experience and treatment when walking through the doors of a healthcare facility. In many cases, people are discriminated against due to their gender, race/ethnicity, age, and income and are often provided with minimal service. Differences between groups in health coverage, access to care, and quality of care is majorly affected through these disparities. Income is a major factor and can cause groups of people to experience higher burden of illness, injury, disability, or mortality relative to another group.
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.
There are four major barriers identified from the above status of the African American population and these are related to socio-economic status of this minority group as most of find healthcare extremely too expensive to obtain. Some of African American are immigrants with various language barriers and has difficulties in understanding the health care need or are scared to talk about their conditions with healthcare providers. Due cultural differences, lifestyles and beliefs acquired from their fore fathers, and are not willing to change from the old way of living to adopt a new healthy ones and lastly, health care workers also discriminate against African American patients and as such that most of them refuse to seek treatment for the ailment because experiences encounter in the past (American Nurses Association,
Disparities are all around us and can account for inequality that is seen among different race, in education, business, politics and even healthcare. Inequality can affect all aspects of a person’s life. In the United States it is unfortunate that every citizen is not privy to the same quality of healthcare. This is one of the major challenges and growing issues for the United States healthcare system. The gap in care is derived from racial, ethnic, gender differences in populations.
Summary of Findings This project discusses key health disparities that exist between Blacks and Whites in the United States Health Care System. This analysis also discusses the historical origins of the health disparities that exist between Blacks and Whites in the U.S. Health care system. This analysis describes the complex social, political and health factors of health disparities between Black and Whites. This describes the steps individuals can take to combat racism and decrease health disparities among African Americans and whites.
This essay aims to identify and evaluate the inequalities in health care in different areas of society, namely disability and gender. Firstly, it is important to understand what we mean by health inequalities. It is commonly understood that health inequality refers to unjust differences in the health status, usually preventable, between different groups, populations or individuals. The existence of such inequalities is attributed to the unequal distributions of social, environmental and economic conditions within societies. Such conditions determine the risk of individuals getting ill, their ability to prevent sickness, as well as opportunities to access to the right treatments.
According to the CDC Hispanics of Mexican origin make up approximately 17 percent of the population in the United States. They are the one of the largest cultural populations in U.S. has risen dramatically over last four decades. There are a variety of reason that lead to health disparities for the Hispanic community these reasons then lead to the individuals not obtaining healthcare. First, it was reported by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in 2012 that 29.1 percent of the Hispanic do not have health insurance. This usually prevents the majority of Hispanic people from receiving health care.
Thus, premature death and preventable losses of quality of life are probable outcomes. Elderly individuals may be less frequently provided the best data-supported healthcare simply because they are old. Thus, bias or prejudice against the aged may be a significant cause. Furthermore, Africa-American have poorer access to care than Whites, for one-third of core measures. Asians and American Indian/Alaska Native had shoddier access to care than Whites for 1 of 5 core measures.
The lack of financial resources can be a big problem to access to health care. The lack of available finance is a barrier to health care for many Americans but access to health care is reduced most among minority populations. The irregular source of care is another reason why access to health is a disparity. Compared to white individuals ethnic or racial minorities are less likely to be able to visit the same doctor on a regular basis and tend to rely more on clinics and emergency rooms (News Medical Life Sciences). 5.
Many Americans were led to believe that the introduction of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2009 would put an end to disparities in health care access. While it did improve the situation for a small percentage of the population there are still many Americans who lack access to good quality health care. Health care access in America is determined by money and those in lower socioeconomic groups frequently tend to miss out on adequate care. In a recent health care report by the national health research foundation Kaiser Family Foundation, it was noted “health care disparities remain a persistent problem in the United States, leading to certain groups being at higher risk of being uninsured, having limited access to care, and experiencing poorer quality of care” (Kaiser Family Foundation). The current health care