Health Disparities: A Case Study

1) The National Institutes of Health (NIH) define healthcare disparities as “differences in access to or availability of facilities and services” (National Institutes of Health [NIH], 2018). These healthcare disparities result in health status disparities which are defined as “variation in rates of disease occurrence and disabilities between socioeconomic and/or geographically defined population groups (NIH, 2018). Essentially, disparate access to healthcare services amongst certain groups of people leads to variation in health-related outcomes compared to those with access. The outcomes of those suffering from healthcare disparities such as lack of insurance and lack of access to healthcare services, whether primary, emergency or mental health care lead to poorer health

Viewing health status disparities through a lens that only looks to healthcare disparities as the cause, loses sight of the impacts of poverty, lack of educational attainment and race on health status outcomes. In the United States, health disparities are both created by and serve to perpetuate the systemic oppression of different groups of people based on race and class which is both immoral and unethical. Failing to rectify health disparities resulting from systemic oppression represents the ongoing perpetuation of harm to groups of people based upon their race and/or class (Jones, 2010). This goes against the ethical principle of non-malfeasance which is foundational in the ethical principles of many health care disciplines. Therefore, inaction to eliminate health disparities is essentially taking action to continue to harm large groups of people in