The words “Talent is universal, but opportunity is not” have grounded me towards my life goals and aspirations. Although an ongoing process, understanding my privileges and intersection of identities has allowed me to communicate cross-culturally and empower individuals from vulnerable populations. Throughout my undergraduate career, I contemplated ways to incorporate my desire to advocate for social justice, with my interest in observing the role social determinants of health contribute to health outcomes and disparities. Rather than working in silos, finding the balance between my two interests, involves using creativity to develop alternative solutions and partnerships across sectors, to be an effective agent of change. From this realization, I am positive that the Social and Behavioral Health Sciences will enable me to build upon my experiences to critically assess current systems in place to address health disparities and advocate for health equity. As an undergraduate at the University of California, Davis, I grappled with the decision to engage in opportunities that would provide me the background knowledge to address my passions for social justice and health disparities. With my involvement at the UC Davis Cross Cultural Center (CCC), a student space that fosters critical consciousness and student activism, I gained a newfound appreciation for community work and desire to implement change through community empowerment. By understanding and processing my intersection of identities, I was able to identify the value, and importance, of community space. As one of the Asian Pacific Islander Community Coordinators, I worked alongside student leaders and community based organizations to advocate for social justice thro... ... middle of paper ... ...ntralizing and taking a holistic approach towards health for underserved communities, could lead to improved show rates, as well as, knowledge and communication between patient and health care providers. Especially in under marginalized communities, where advocacy and resources are lacking and needed the most, the manner in which health officials effectively educate and provide the resources to these communities need to be strategically assessed to translate scientific research into practice. With the value and importance of public health increasing, I desire to address the social determinants of health to reduce health disparities through utilization of technology and partnerships with community organizers. Thus, I believe a degree from Oregon State will be an excellent opportunity for me to merge my skills, backgrounds, and passions, turning a vision into reality.
Large disparities exist between minorities and the rest of Americans in major areas of health. Even though the overall health of the nation is improving, minorities suffer from certain diseases up to five times more than the rest of the nation. President Clinton has committed the nation to eliminating the disparities in six areas of health by the Year 2010, and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will be jumping in on this huge battle. The six areas are: Infant Mortality, Cancer Screening and Management, Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes, HIV Infection and AIDS, and Child and Adult Immunizations.
Health care providers not knowing their surrounding community impacts the way they provide health care to a patient. I hope to use my background in community work with underrepresented populations and the qualities I gained to hopefully reduce and someday diminish the concern that health care isn’t keeping up with the demographics of the surrounding community. The third health care concern I will talk about is another near and dear to me which is the severely low quality health care women in developing countries receive.
The knowledge that I will obtain in the public health portion of the program will allow me to be better prepared to understand the social and environmental determinants of health that contribute to the development of diseases, and this will allow me to care for my patients more effectively. As these and other public health issues become more prominent, having a well-trained workforce that is equipped to address community-level health concerns is vital. As a profession, PAs are well educated as primary care clinicians and are able to handle a wide variety of common health care disorders. Adding a master’s degree in public health equips PAs with an expanded skill set which can be used to manage the health of entire communities, specifically those which are
Rabinowitz, P., (2014). Work Group for Community Health and Developmen Retrieved January 25, 2014 from Internet http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/participation/encouraging-involvement/identify-stakeholders/powerpoint
Diabetes Programs: The Scripps Whittier Diabetes Institute Experience. Curr Diab Rep Current Diabetes Reports, 14(2). Doi:10.1007/s11892-013-0462-0
Health disparity is one of the burdens that contributes to our healthcare system in providing equal healthcare to everyone regarding of race, age, race, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status to achieve good health. Research reveals that racial and ethnic minorities are likely to receive lower quality of healthcare services than white Americans.
Baccalaureate-prepared nurses should demonstrate cultural awareness and competence in their practice in order to provide quality care to diverse populations in the society (Kersey-Matusiak, 2012). The US health care system faces disparities in the health status of different cultural groups such as the racial and ethnic minorities, the economically disadvantaged groups and rural populations (Jeffreys, 2006). Cultural competence refers to the attitudes, knowledge, and skills that are necessary for providing care in diverse populations and I believe that I have acquired personal cultural awareness and competence (Weber & Kelly, 2009). I am able to promote social justice by remaining impartial
State and local public health departments throughout the country have the responsibility for improving health in workplaces, schools, and communities through identifying top health problems within society and developing a plan to improve. Barriers the public health system has encountered over the years include: changes in the overall health system that support cost containment and improved health, and an increase in the number of individuals with insurance coverage for direct preventive services; reduction of qualified public health professional and funding at all levels of government; increasing focus on accountability, with higher expectations for demonstrating a return on investment in terms of cost and health improvement (Trust, 2013). In the near future, health departments ...
A health disparity is a term used to show that there are inequalities that occur in the healthcare system. Race, sex, age, disability, and socioeconomic status can all attribute to a person 's health outcome. According to Healthy People 2020, health disparity is defined as “a particular type of health difference that is closely linked with social, economic, and/or environmental disadvantage. Health disparities adversely affect groups of people who have systematically experienced greater obstacles to health based on their racial or ethnic group; religion; socioeconomic status; gender; age; mental health; cognitive, sensory, or physical disability; sexual orientation or gender identity; geographic location; or other characteristics historically linked to discrimination or exclusion.” In the United States, many ethnic minorities experience the effects of health disparities. African American, Asian American, Latinos, and Native Americans have a higher occurrence of poor health outcomes compared to the white population. Some examples of health disparities include: African American men, for instance, are more likely to die from cancer than white men. White women are more likely to develop breast cancer than African-American women. African-American men are more likely than white men to develop prostate
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).
No citizen shale ever be ignored no matter their race, state of health, or class. In the US “barriers generally stem from forces within the organizational environment of the health care delivery system or within the broader social system itself” (Barr, 2011, p. 273). This is why health policy scholars need to study health disparities so that equal care can ultimately be reached. Currently some disparities that are obvious in society are unequal dispersion and quality of care between racial groups, genders, and those with low middle class income. The health care system needs to be fixed and in order for that to happen health scholars must study better procedures so that the best possible outcome can be reached for the American
In recent discussions of health care disparities, a controversial issue has been whether racism is the cause of health care disparities or not. On one hand, some argue that racism is a serious problem in the health care system. From this perspective, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) states that there is a big gap between the health care quality received by minorities, and the quality of health care received by non-minorities, and the reason is due to racism. On the other hand, however, others argue that health care disparities are not due to racism. In the words of Sally Satel, one of this view’s main proponents, “White and black patients, on average don’t even visit the same population of physicians” (Satel 1), hence this reduces the chances of racism being the cause of health care disparities. According to this view, racism is not a serious problem in the health care system. In sum, then, the issue is whether racism is a major cause of health care disparities as the Institute of Medicine argues or racism is not really an issue in the health care system as suggested by Sally Satel.
Williams, D. R., & Jackson, P. (2014, April 1). Health Affairs. Social Sources Of Racial Disparities In Health. Retrieved April 29, 2014, from http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/24/2/325.short
As someone who has many aspirations in life, I understand having both long and short-term goals is important. One of my long-term professional objectives includes being a community service manager at a health center. With this I am hoping to work with many other healthcare professionals to coordinate health programs and initiatives to improve the health of communities. Having a background in health promotion alongside the leadership and management skills and the real world experience that I intended to gain from this program will give me all I need to make this
Not only do we need to understand the ‘issue’ or ‘societal problem’ that many people face and are impacted by every day, but we need to meet and work alongside those whose daily realities are shaped by injustices, while not creating any divides or barriers in the process. Everyday people are affected by the issues that organizations fight for or against, and once we realize how people-centered things like advocacy, outreach and service are, I believe young people will realize their call to action and their potent...