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Racial and ethnic disparities in the U.S. health care system
Explore the relationship between social determinants of health and health disparities
Racial and ethnic disparities in the U.S. health care system
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Racial and ethnic health disparities has weaken the health care system in the United States. According to FamiliesUSA (2017), Latinos predominantly suffers from some health conditions and are more prevalent to illness or get sicker, have severe complications and die from the illness. As reported, the predominant health issues with the Latinos adults are asthma, tuberculosis, cervical cancer, liver disease, obesity, HIV and diabetes. For Latinos children, infant mortality, asthma, obesity and depression are said to be the top list compare to Caucasians (LaVeist, 2005). With those disparities, evidence proposal that social and economic factors have significant determinants. LaVeist (2005), suggests that socioeconomic, socioenvironmental, behavioral and access to, and use of, health care services are major contribution to health disparities between the Latinos and the Caucasians. …show more content…
The measurement of the socioeconomic status, includes personal and family income, poverty rates, education, and occupation. Despite the poverty, less education, and poor access to health care, statistics shows that the health outcomes of the Latinos living in the United States are equal to, or better than, non-Hispanic or African Americans (Kominski, 2014). Behavioral or lifestyles is another major contribution. Low socioeconomic status is said to be associated with unhealthy behaviors. For example cigarettes smoking, overweight due to poor eating habit, and physically inactive are more dominant among the lower socioeconomic rank, which the majority of the Latinos fall under compare to the Caucasians of high socioeconomic category. In addition, Kominski (2014) states that the Latinos tend to delayed seeking care not until their medical condition gets
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.
One of the most significant cultural issues impacting this situation is that Hispanics in the US have the highest rates of uninsured people, and the lowest rates of screening for cardiovascular disease and risks. Furthermore the Lavie and Lopez-Jimenez explain that besides healthcare coverage, and quality services there aren't enough epidemiologic studies and cardiovascular disease research focused on Hispanics (2014, pp.1). The diverse nature of Hispanics also amplifies this issue. The article also focuses on the “Hispanic Paradox” and how this issue impacts the situation. This paradox points out that even though Hispanics have “a higher prevalence of CVD risk factors and disadvantageous socio-economic situations” in the US they have a higher life expectancy
Therefore, considering these issues is an impediment when discussing the disparities in health. Some minorities are disadvantaged in the current healthcare while some are not. However, it is complicated to identify reasons for inequalities because health outcome is a result of numerous interactions with factors including the individual’s access to care, the quality of care provided, health behaviors such as tobacco and alcohol consumption, the presence or absence of complicating conditions, and personal attitudes toward health and medicine. Therefore, Examining existing racial and ethnic issues, developing potential solutions for current disparities, and preparing for future challenges as shifts in trends emerge are essential aspects of health care improvements” (Boslaugh,
The goal within the United States government is to treat each individual as an equal citizen. Unfortunately, through the inadequate practice of public policies people have been treated unequal because of natural conditions and the countries social environment. In health policy, the two concepts that cause unequal treatment are health disparities and health differences. Health disparities are resulted from social factors that are avoidable and unjust. For example, saying ovarian cancer death rates are higher because men have better research on prostate cancer (Smith, 2016). “The extent and nature of health disparities changes over the life course” (Adler, 2008, p. 241). Health differences are inherently biological being completely natural and
Health Promotion Among the Hispanic Minority Health is determined in the nation by the minority health. "Approximately 36 percent of the population belongs to a racial or ethnic minority group" (CDC, 2015).One of these are the "Hispanics or Latinos are the largest racial/ethnic minority population in the United States" (CDC, 2015). "About 1 in 6 people living in the US are Hispanic" (CDC, 2015). Therefore, this student will make the comparison between the status of the health of Hispanic minority and the nations ,barriers of health behavior This paper will compare the health status of the Hispanic minority with the nations, barriers to health seeking behaviors, and methods of promoting health among this population. Status of Health Among Hispanic Minority "Heart disease and cancer in Hispanics are the two leading causes of death, accounting for about 2 of 5 deaths, which is about the same for whites" (CDC, 2015). "Hispanics have more deaths from diabetes and chronic liver disease than whites, and similar numbers of deaths from kidney disease" (CDC, 2015). Even though the percentage of Hispanics suffering from high blood pressure are17% in comparison to 20% of whites. Hispanics are 68% that suffered poorly controlled high blood pressure compare to whites which are 54%. Even though Health risks may vary among Hispanic subgroup and whether they are US born or not. Lower death rate is suffered by the Hispanic than whites .But Hispanic has about 50% higher death rate from diabetes. Many deaths may be prevented within the Hispanic population with an increase in education and health screening . Barriers to Health Promotion in the Hispanic Minority "Social factors may play a major role in Hispanic health" (CDC, 2015). According to the art...
The health in Hispanic communities is considered poor this is not due to factors that are prevalent in other minorities but due to the lack of access to health care and health care coverage. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health explains “It is significant to note that Hispanics have the highest uninsured rates of any racial or ethnic group within the United States.” With this issue leads lower health rates. Living conditions are also low within the Hispanic community this is due to the lack of funds available to the community. It leads back to not having enough income. Therefore housing is not adequate and often overpopulated to save cost. This has bad implications because it ties back to health and safety. Education for Hispanics can be difficult; often because of the language barrier and the inadequate amount of assistance available to those who need it to further their education. The unemployment rate is not as low as other minorities but as DOL report elaborates “One factor that may explain why Latino labor force outcomes lag behind those of their white counterparts is educational attainment. As is true for all racial and ethnic groups, the link between greater educational attainment and improved employment outcomes remains strong”. Which means if the education within the Hispanic community was higher
These differences occur as a result of culture, race and geographical location as well as socioeconomic status (Andrews, & Boyle, 2008). Health disparities affect racial and ethnic minorities, low-income groups, women, children, older adults, residents of rural areas, and individuals with disabilities and special care needs (National Institutes of Health, 2010). Health disparities result in inadequate health care for affected populations with significant medical problems. Inadequate health care delivered in an untimely fashion ultimately requires more intervention to resolve worsening problems and also increases health care expenses for individuals, families, and communities (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2008).
Recently, significant attention has focused on racial disparities in health care and health status in the medical community. Epidemiology and risk distribution are important for a wholesome medical education, and risk distribution by race can inform a clinician's diagnosis. However, when health care professionals identify race as a risk factor for certain diseases, that information may be disingenuous if the authors misperceive race with income, education, or behavior. In other words, many other factors besides race affect disease prediction, and are, in some cases, stronger predictors of disease and disease outcomes. In a study done by Sheets et al., evaluating the “validity of attributing race as a risk factor in a widely used pathology book…
The most important of these is the lack of access to mental health services the Hispanic population experience. They are affected by mental health problems at rates that are similar or higher to those of the general population (APA). They are therefore a very high-risk group because of the disparities they experience in seeking social services and following up with treatment. Hispanics are the highest minority population in the United States. It has therefore taken the attention of major stakeholders because of the lack of social services that are available to them, especially those with mental health. For example, the Surgeon General in 2001 made a report titled Mental Health: Culture, Race, and Ethnicity, in which he stressed on the need to eliminate disparities in the utilization of mental health services among Latinos as a top priority. He concluded that the disparities they experience have contributed to major depressive disorders among them and has led to chronic illnesses. It has led to a high degree of functional limitation among them than among other populations. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) also contributed to this discussion in its report titled Unequal Treatment. They defined disparity as differences between racial-ethnic minority groups and whites that have contributed to both socio-economic and health care disparities that are for most of the time against
Many of the people impacted by health disparities are minorities who represent 34.5% of the U.S population according to the 2010 U.S Census Bureau estimate. Despite the high population of minorities, some minority groups like Blacks American, American Indians and Alaska Natives had been reported to have poor health outcomes due to the health barriers and biases (Artiga, 2016). Blacks, American Indians and Alaska Natives have a higher prevalence of asthma, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease than the general population of people with these conditions.
Blacks die from heart disease faster than any other ethnic group; however the disease is more common for Whites to have despite the fact that Blacks have access to cheap preventions. For instance, being pro active and paying a minimal fee at the gym, checking for blood pressure and cholesterol levels free of charge in a local pharmaceutical department and purchasing over-the-counter-- prescriptions. Research by Singh and Siapush (2001) highlighted the need to study Latino health using as a comparison experience of other racial/ethnic groups. The mortality data discussed that both Latino immigrants have a health advantage over US native born Whites. However, research has suggested that Latino ethnicity and foreign nativity might be protective against psychiatric disorders. In broad racial/ethnic comparisons, "Hispanics “as well as non-Hispanic Blacks were at lower risk for disorders such as depression, generalized anxiety disorder, and social phobia compare to non-Hispanic Whites (Breslau et al., 2006). For some Latino the advantages of healthcare might rooted in their strong social network and culture. It is essential to recognize that there are health
Even though the life expectancy in the nation has increased, African-Americans have the shortest life expectancy compared to other groups (Disparities in Health and Health Care, 2012). Though African-Americans consist of a moderately lesser fraction of the U.S. population, they habitually undergo a grander percentage of frequency of the various leading health illnesses in the nation. This is all as a result of health disparities. African-Americans have an inclusive incidence of suffering and dying from cancer, have double the rate of infant death than that of Caucasians and a higher risk of death from heart disease and strokes than Caucasian Americans (Davis & Haynie, 2009). In addition, African-Americans record the highest blood pressure rate than any other racial group and are more likely to be diagnosed with HIV/AIDS than
There are significances between Latino children who are from immigrated parents and children who are from U.S. born parents in relations to mental health, stressors to mental health, services obtained, and more. 20.4% of children of immigrants were born outside of the U.S., and only 3.5% of Latino children of native-born parents were born outside of the U.S. (Dettlaff et al., 2009). Children of immigrants are twice as likely as children with U.S. born parents to be reported in fair or poor health; they are also at risk for slower cognitive and language development (Clapp & Fortuny, 2009). According to Dettlaff et al. (2009), 29% of children of immigrants have parents with less a high school education while compared to only 8% of children of
Sixty-three percent of African American adults below the poverty line described having one out of the four chronic diseases (hypertension, heart disease, diabetes or asthma) or a disability, compared to half of low-income whites and 39 percent of low-income Hispanic adults. Forty-five percent of African American adults whom are considered below the poverty line reported health problems, compared to 32 percent of whites and 23 percent of Hispanics in the higher income group (CDC
The health outcomes of citizens have been significantly impacted by this when looking at particular populations of people in the country. Research outlines racial and financial disparities