Health Disparities Analysis

1. What does the term health disparities mean? Health disparities are preventable differences in the burden of disease, injury, violence, or in opportunities to achieve optimal health experienced by socially disadvantaged racial, ethnic, and other population groups, and communities (Healthy Aging, 2017). An example of a health disparity would be if women were more likely than men to die from pancreatic cancer. Anyone is capable of having a health disparity.

Introduction Disparities in health are an inequality that occurs in the provision of healthcare and its accessibility across different dimensions including location, gender, ethnicity, age, disability status, citizenship status and socioeconomic group (Ubri & Artiga, 2016; Wallerstein & Durran, 2006). According to the health Resources and Service Administration of United States, health disparities are defined by population specific differences in the presence of disease, health outcomes and the accessibility to healthcare. Urbi and Artiga (2016) indicates that disparities in healthcare provision not only bring impacts to the group facing disparities, but also limit overall improvements in quality of care and population health as well as resulting

The lecture, led by Dr. Christian Dimaano, discussed a variety of health disparities and then went into an in depth look at Henrietta Lacks, and the use of her cells in scientific research. He described health disparities as the differences of health problems between races, lifestyles, and mental processes. This was a very interesting topic for me, as a nursing major, I hadn’t really thought about health disparities before, so it was interesting to think about all of the potentially higher health risks that can occur simply because a patients race, or mental state. He also discussed the social determinants of heath and how things like your physical environment, economic stability, social community, and education can all influence your health.

Health disparities are inequitable and are directly related to the historical and current unequal distribution of social, political, economic, and environmental resources (CDC). 2. Which racial/ethnic groups are more likely to be affected by health disparities? Why?

According to Baldwin (2003) health care disparities are the differences in health and health care between population groups including race, socioeconomic status, age, location, gender, disability, and sexual orientation. Disparities limits the improvements of quality health care which could result in unnecessary health care expenses. Factors that are contributing to disparities within today’s society are lack of access to quality health care and the number of individuals who are uninsured. As the population continue to grow and become more diverse health care disparities will continue to increase.

Disparities in health care have been an ongoing issue for more than two decades. Evidence suggests that disparities in women and minority population continue to be problematic, with little progress being made to eliminate them. Ethnic and disparities exist for several different reasons. However, several national organizations have made efforts to reduce health disparities, including the Institute of Medicine, (IOM), and the Agency for Health Research and Quality (AHRQ) as well as Healthy People 20/20.

Health inequalities are preventable and unjust differences in health status experienced by certain population groups. People in lower socio-economic groups are more likely to experience chronic ill-health and die earlier than those who are more advantaged. Health inequalities are not only apparent between people of different socio-economic groups – they exist between different genders and different ethnic groups (“Health inequalities,” n.d.). The situation in which people are born, grow, develop, work and age are affected by social, economic, environmental and most importantly political factors.

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.

Health disparity are avertible health status of distinctive group of people like races, skin color, language, socioeconomic resources, gender and age (Edelman, Kudzma, & Mandle, 2014). Health disparities are arbitrary and explicit to historical and present uneven distribution of political, economic, social, and environmental resources. A disparity can also be related to education, where dropping out of school occurs associated with various social and health problems (CDC,2017). Comprehensively, person with inadequate education are more likely to struggle number of health risks such as substance abuse, obesity, and traumatic injuries, compared to individual who receive more education. One of the main findings within health disparities in history

By reducing health disparities, vulnerable populations are empowered, increasing the equality in access to health care services, quality of care and efficiency of services. The United States is currently integrating the population health framework into its health care system to be understand the different determinants of health. As described by Jonas & Kovner, population health involves primary prevention, as well as the ability to involve social, behavioral, and environmental determinants of health in a way that the patients will be able to carry out their medical providers’ recommendations about lifestyle behaviors to reduce potential complications as well as to prevent social crises such as homelessness and losing jobs (95).

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.

Health inequalities are a result of unequal exposure to risk factors associated with socio-economic inequalities, such as social, economic and environmental conditions (Thomson, Bambra, McNamara, Huijts, & Todd, 2016).

Health Care Disparities Health care disparities are unfortunate and being culturally competent is an essential step toward eliminating these inequalities. In this discussion, I will review what disparities are associated with the Appalachian culture and how they affect health status, employment, and education. I will also identify two nursing interventions that could be taken to help decrease the affect that health disparities have on the Appalachians and review what the biggest challenge would be when implementing the interventions. There are about 27 million people that live in the area defined as the Appalachian region, which spans 13 states.

Kaiser Family Foundation (2012), health and health care despairs refer to differences in the health and health care between population groups. The health disparity generally refers to a higher burden of illness, injury, disability, or mortality experienced by one population group relative to another. A health care disparity typically refers to the differences between groups in health coverage, access to care, and quality of care. While disparities are commonly viewed through the lens of race and ethnicity, they occur across many dimensions, including socioeconomic status, age, location, gender, disability status, and sexual orientation (HKFF,

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.