The Social Ecological Model and the Five Components

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The United States of America were founded on the belief that everyone should be treated equally. A tremendous amount of progress has been made to eliminate racism and inequality over the past two centuries. Even though America has come a long way, more advances can be made and should not be stopped until racial and ethnic disparities are completely eradicated. A fundamental area that significant disparities exist in is the healthcare industry. Evidence shows medical care is not distributed equally among residents of the United States. The social ecological model will be used to investigate the existing gaps in the healthcare system in the U.S. The social ecological model is comprised of five components. Starting on the inside is the individual, which refers to a person’s knowledge, skills, and attitudes. The next layer outside of the individual is the interpersonal level, which is composed of a person’s family, friends, and social networks. After interpersonal is the organizational level, which makes up the social institutions and organizations a person belongs to. Outside of organizational is the community level, which refers to the relationships a person has among organizations. Lastly, the outside layer of the ecological model is the societal level, which refers to the public policy implemented at the national, state, and local levels (Warner, 2013, pp. 13-18). This paper will address the dissimilar access to care between the Hispanic and white non-Hispanic populations by examining the organizational, interpersonal, and societal levels of the ecological model. The dissimilar care leads to higher prevalence of certain health issues like heart disease, stroke, cancer, and many others. The term Hispanic is used to describe a perso... ... middle of paper ... ... intriguing though is the change in percentages over time. While both groups showed reduced rates for people with less than a high school education. The non-Hispanic white group was cut in half while the Hispanic group was reduced by merely 3%. A person’s level of education can be correlated to his or her health because many risk factors for health conditions are behavioral. Each ethnic group has a rich history and culture setting them apart from the others. Food is a dominant element of the Hispanic culture, which can be relevant when examining health disparities at the interpersonal level of the ecological model The well-known Affordable Care Act is currently in the process of being implemented. The Affordable Care Act falls under the societal layer of the ecological model and will attempt to abolish the high percentage of uninsured civilians that currently exist.

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