Healthy People 2020 focuses on many initiatives, however, the ones that interest me the most are making access to health services easier, achieving equal health by eliminating health disparities, and overall improving health-related quality of life. A main concern of Healthy People’s is disparities, and it is their goal to “achieve health equity, eliminate disparities, and improve the health of all groups” (Healthy People 2020). A disparity is when a health outcome is seen to a greater or lesser extent between populations. Healthy disparities are usually closely linked to disadvantages such as social, economic, and environmental. In order to eventually achieve a health equity, we must value everyone equally and address inequalities, injustices, and eliminate disparities within the healthcare system. …show more content…
population by tracking rates of illness, death, chronic conditions, behaviors, and other types of outcomes in relation to demographic factors” (Healthy People 2020). These demographic factors will include race and ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability status, and geographic location. Reducing health disparities will ultimately increase access to health services. However, we must overcome barriers such as high cost of care, inadequate or no insurance coverage, lack of availability of services, and lack of culturally competent care. Access to health care impacts one's overall physical, social, and mental health status and quality of life, therefore, by making these services accessible will improve the population's quality of life. Health-related quality of life, also known as HRQoL, which can be used to measure the effects of chronic illness, treatments, and short- and long-term
The public needs to address racial disparities in health which is achievable by changing policy addressing the major components of socioeconomic status (income, education, and occupation) as well as the pathways by which these affect health. To modify these risk factors, one needs to look even further to consider the factors. Socioeconomic status is a key underlying factor. Several components need to be identified to offer more options for those working on policy making. Because the issue is so big, I believe that not a single policy can eliminate health disparities in the United States. One possible pathway can be education, like the campaign to decrease tobacco usage, which is still a big problem, but the health issue has decreased in severity. The other pathway can be by addressing the income, by giving low-income individuals the same quality of care as an individual who has a high
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.
The Healthy People 2020 (Healthy People 2020, 2014) is a nationwide program created by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to achieve objectives for promoting health and preventing diseases. Faith based communities may benefit tremendously in including these objectives in program planning. The main goal is for the American people to have long, healthy lives. The Healthy People 2020 program provides measurable objectives that can be applied down to the local level such as in faith based communities. These guidelines encourage high quality of life by being healthy, disease-free, accessible healthcare, and have an environment that promotes good health and wellbeing in all age levels.
Healthy People 2020 measures several important health topics such as the determinants of health and disparities within a
“Healthy People provides science-based, 10-year national objectives for improving the health of all Americans.” ( United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Healthy People 2020 , 2011). It acts as a national guide for disease prevention and health promotion. There are various objectives and goals which serve as the guideline to achieve overall improvement in health . ‘Educational and Community-Based Programs’ is one of them. According to U.S Department of Health and Human Services the main goal of these programs is to “Increase the quality, availability, and effectiveness of educational and community-based programs designed to prevent disease and injury, improve health, and enhance quality of life.” (HHS, Healthy People 2020, 2011). This particular goal of Healthy People 2020 focuses on increasing the number educational and community based programs to increase awareness about disease prevention and health among every individual of the society. It focuses on educating them on various topics including chronic diseases, substance abuse, prevention of injury and violence to encourage and enhance health. It emphasizes on increasing the quantity and quality of such programs so that a larger population could benefit from the program and gain effective knowledge to achieve a healthy life.
Health disparity is one of the major concerns in the provision of quality care and access to healthcare which directly the life expectancy of the nation as about ethnicity and race. However, describing the health outcomes or status of an ethnic group in the population would help in a better evaluation of the disparities that occur within minority groups in our society. “Racial/ethnic disparities in health and quality of and access to health care are a well-documented and persistent problem. Across many indicators of health, access to care, and health care quality, racial/ethnic minorities fare worse than whites, and each population faces specific challenges”(James et al., 2017, p. 1).
As defined by World Health Organization (WHO), health is a "state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." (WHO, 2016). However, this statement can vary among people’s perspective of what consider healthy or unhealthy. In the minority group of Hispanics or Latino, health issues have taken a big toll due to fact they are the largest uninsured rates of any racial and ethnic groups in the United States (OMH, 2015). Besides not having health insurance, there are many barriers that this minority group encounters that create a big impact on what enables them to promote health. This paper will analyze the health status of the Hispanic or Latino groups by comparing and contrasting it to the national average, and also will highlight the health disparities in the group and the best approach to health using the three levels of health promotion and prevention.
Healthy People 2020 covers vast arena of topics that impacts the lives of the people in the coming decades. It strives to identify health issues and awareness among people based on the continued research and data collection. Among all of the topics impacting our health, Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs) is one of the identified issue that impact our lives. One of the objective of HAIs establish by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is to reduce and prevent central line-associated bloodstream infections also known as CLABSIs (NEED REF). HAIs are infections acquired by the patients while obtaining medical or surgical treatments at the healthcare facilities.
Healthy People 2020’s goal to improve the quality and quantity of life in the United States drives health care providers, as well as local, state and national governments to address our nation’s health (ODPHP, 2015). The Healthy People 2020 national health objectives that greatly affect my community are obesity and physical inactivity (ODPHP, 2015). The enclosed community and state data, in comparison to the national data, confirms a high rate of diabetes (type II) and cardiovascular disease in Cabell County, as well as the state of West Virginia. Meeting the goals set by the Healthy People 2020 initiative regarding physical activity and a healthy weight are essential to deceasing one’s risk of developing these diseases, as well as hypertension and hyperlipidemia. The definition of obesity used in the above statistics is a body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30 (ODPHP, 2015).
Healthy People 2020 is a program for the promotion of health and the prevention of diseases, launched by the Department of Health and Human Services in December 2010. According to healthypeople.gov, this program has four overarching goals which are first to achieve healthy, longer lives free of preventable diseases, injuries, and premature deaths; to achieve health fairness, eliminate differences, and improve all groups’ health; also to produce social and physical environments that encourage good health; and last but not least to promote life’s quality, healthy development, and healthy behaviors through all life stages. This program has a vision of a community where people live long, healthy lives. Healthy People 2020 offers a comprehensive set of 10 years of nationwide goals and objectives that is meant to improve the health of the American population. Healthy People 2020 covers 42 topic areas with approximately 600 objectives, which include 1,200 measures. A smaller set of Healthy People 2020 objectives, has been designated to communicate high-priority health issues and actions that can be taken to address them, this objectives are called Leading Health Indicators. The program goes above and beyond these health indicators in order to provide the best care for the people of this country. These indictors cover from the access of health service, nutrition, physical activity, and obesity to substance abuse, environmental quality, injury and violence.
Woolf, S. & Braveman, P., 2011. ANALYSIS & COMMENTARY: Where Health Disparities Begin: The Role Of Social And Economic Determinants—And Why Current Policies May Make Matters Worse. Health Aff, 30(10).
Changes in population size, age, race and ethnicity affect the health-care resources needed, the cost of care provided, and even the conditions associated with each population group (Demographics impact, n.d.). Demographics involves the specific characteristics of a population such as the age, sex, marital status, number of children, income, gender, ethnic background, education, religion, citizenship, and language spoken. Demographics are a major determinant of the size and characteristics of the future health workforce, and demographic tendencies can be trended with reasonable accuracy one or two decades into the future. This data is important to healthcare because it allows government and policy makers to predict future needs. If the population is aging, policy makers can ascertain that there is a good chance that there will be an increased need for formal caregivers, physicians, nursing care facilities and funds to care for them (Strunk, Ginsburg & Banker, n.d.).
Improving population health necessitates a variety of the contributions from health entities. These health entities can be state, local governments, hospitals, health centers, and community organizations. Unfortunately, these contributions and services are not equally distributed throughout the population. Lack of a supermarket in a neighborhood limits residents’ access to healthy food and other resources. Furthermore, ethnic minority and/or low-income communities are burdened with several health disparities such as greater risk for diseases, or limited access to healthcare services (Jackson, 2014). The National Cancer Institute reported that individuals from medically underserved population are more likely to be diagnosed with late-stage diseases because they have inadequate resources to education, or health insurance. When an individual does not have adequate access to healthcare services, healthy disparity grows larger in the overall health of a
...on, race, and political belief, economic or social condition. Improving the poor health of disadvantaged individuals and reducing health gaps is important but not enough to level up health through socioeconomic groups. The objective of tackling health inequalities can be changed to local needs and priorities of a community allowing wide-ranging partnerships of support to be organised. However it needs to be made clear that what can be done to help improve the life chances and health prospects of individuals living in poverty may not come close to bringing their health prospects closer to the average of the rest of the population or prevent the gap living on throughout the generations. Being clear about what is trying to be overcome and achieved needs upmost importance in the development and delivery of policies that will promote health equality across the population.
There are many inequities in this global world; should there be such gross inequities in the health of people around the world? We hear words like health gap, health care inequality and sustainability. What can be done to eliminate the health gap, health care inequities and maintain sustainability? The World Health Organization (WHO) and other organizations, private and public are working towards eliminating these disparities. Healthy People 2020 are one such goal that has achieved considerable progress in attaining sustainability in the pursuit of global health goals (Gostin et al., 2013). The health gap can be minimized through health strategies. Among them are essentials for all in this global world; clean air, water, healthy food and adequate housing with hygienic living conditions. Primary, secondary, tertiary prevention and care services should be available to all who seek health care services.