Influences on the Health of a Community The health of a community is influenced by many factors including the social, cultural, and ethnic mix of the community, varying individual belief and moral systems, and the impact of political and economic factors to name a few. Strong social community associations, affiliations, and ties, within the interior of the community also influence the overall health of the community collective. Additional influences are the actual physical environment, surroundings, and available activities and resources of the community in which the citizens live, work, play, and perform all the other associated activities of daily life. Socioeconomics and the Spartanburg Community Spartanburg County is one of the major cities in the State of South Carolina. Spartanburg County has an estimated population of over 288,700 people (South Carolina Department of Health & Environmental Control, 2013). Spartanburg County is primarily rural in nature and is challenged by many socioeconomic issues and factors, including a high incidence of poverty, unemployment, and illiteracy. The community of Spartanburg, S.C has been hit hard by the closing of many of the local manufacturing plants and textile mills. The current unemployment rate is 7.7% (South Carolina Employment Security Commission, 2013). Because of the high ratio of low income or unemployed family homes within the community and the lack of available resources, many of the residents of Spartanburg County are challenged by poor housing, inadequate nutrition, sedentary lifestyles, and access to quality medical care which impacts the individual’s health and the overall community health. Lifestyles and Behaviors Related to Individual ... ... middle of paper ... ...ocial determinants of health: The solid facts. World Health Organization International Centre for Health and Society, doi: ISBN 92 890 1371 0 Lillie-Blanton, M., Maleque, S., & Miller, W. (2008). Reducing racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in health care: Opportunities in national health reform. Journal of Law, Medicine, & Ethics, 693-702. . Retrieved from CINAHL with Full Text database. Shipman, D., Vant Hul, T., & Hooten, J. (2009). Starving for health care: Ethical issues surrounding the uninsured population. FEDERAL PRACTITIONER, 13-15. South Carolina Department of Health & Environmental Control. (2013, November). S.C. data and statistics. Retrieved from www.scdhec.gov/data-statistics.htm South Carolina Employment Security Commission. (2013). State of South Carolina, Spartanburg County, S.C. Spartanburg, S.C.: South Carolina Security Commission.
Healthcare in the United States is an extremely often discussed topic on whether it is morally a right or just a charity to those who cannot afford it. Plenty claim that health care is too expensive and not affordable so they demand aid from the government. On the other hand, the rest presume that the state is not morally accountable to take this type of action, since not every citizen and human being is equally eligible to receive the same healthcare.
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
"Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health." Public Health Reports. July/August 1998: 372 EBSCOhost. Available <http://www.epnet.com/ehost/login.html>. (11 February 1999)
Being susceptible to health issues, can result from an interaction between the resources available to individuals and the built environment. Also, these negative health issues can be due to disadvantaged social status, leading to a plethora of ill effects, such as degraded neighborhoods, food deserts, and lack of community mobilization. The complex interactions of these factors over the course of time can create vulnerabilities in the
Wilkinson, R. M. (2003). Social determinants of health - the solid facts. [S.l.]: World Health Organization.
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.
...an, P., Egerter, S., & Williams, D. R. (2011). The social determinants of health: coming
Wilkinson, R.G. & Marmot, M.G. 2003, Social determinants of health: the solid facts, World Health Organization.
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.
The disparities in the healthcare system contribute to the overall health status disparities that affect ethnic and racial minorities. The sources of ethnic and racial healthcare disparities include cultural barriers, geography differences, or healthcare provider stereotyping. In addition, difficulties in communication between health care providers and patients, lack of access to healthcare providers, and lack of access to adequate health care coverage
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
Most health care plans do not collect socioeconomic or racial/ethnic data on their plan members. The recognition of disparities in health care as a quality issue has far-reaching implications for reducing socioeconomic and racial/ethnic disparities in health care. It is difficult to isolate racial/ethnic disparities in health care due to socioeconomic disparities because race and socioeconomic position are so closely intertwined, especially in the United States. However, socioeconomic position appears to be the more powerful determinant of health, as mentioned above. Fiscella et al. proposed five principles for addressing disparities, some of which were- 1) “disparities must be recognized as a significant quality problem”; and 2) “an approach to disparities should account for the relationships between both socioeconomic position and race/ethnicity and morbidity. Consideration should be given to linking reimbursement to the socioeconomic position and racial/ethnicity composition of the enrolled population.”
In recent years racial disparities in health status have received increasing attention. The relationship between race, poverty, and health is complex. Something to consider is that people suffering from mental illness and members of minority racial populations are disproportionately concentrated in high-poverty areas.(Chun-Chung Chow) Disparities in health status in these areas are believed to reflect a lack of access to care because of an absence of insurance coverage, a tendency to attribute certain health concerns to religious and culturally sanctioned belief systems, and a shortage of culturally compatible health care providers. (Chun-Chung Chow) Because of the lesser access to medical treatments Blacks and Hispanics ...
Despite the substantial developments in diagnostic and treatment processes, there is convincing evidence that ethnic and racial minorities normally access and receive low quality services compared to the majority communities (Lum, 2011). As such, minority groups have higher mortality and morbidity rates arising from both preventable and treatable diseases judged against the majority groups. Elimination of both racial and ethnic disparities is mainly politically sensitive, but plays an important role in the equitable access of services, including the health care ones without discrimination. In addition, accountability, accessibility, and availability of equitable health care services are crucial for the continually growing
There are different issues that affect the health of people. Whether they become healthy is dependent on their situation and where they live. Factors including where we live, education, level of income, genetics, access to health care services and much more has a significant influence on our health. The determinants of health are factors which influence a person’s state of health.