Health Disparities: A Case Study

Words: 1104
Pages: 5
Open Document
DX: Health disparities
Imagine America as a patient. A provider would assess the patient for normal and abnormal findings diagnose and treat the abnormals. The finding that many Americans have negative health outcomes related to social and economic disadvantages is abnormal. It can be diagnosed and treated. The diagnosis of these abnormal findings is health disparities. Health disparities are measured by specific differences in health between populations (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2014). The pathophysiology is health inequity: poor status due to a lack of health resources and social inequity (CDC, 2014). The etiologic agents would be the social determinants. These are inter-related social and economic factors that influence …show more content…
Dr. Cynthia M. Jones applies several ethical and moral principles to establish that health disparities are a moral malady and to not address them, would be morally wrong as well (2010). The WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health concluded in 2008 that the social conditions in which people are born, live, and work are the single most important determinant of one's health status (2008). Social determinants represent 75% of the influence on a population’s health and are responsible for differences in health outcomes, compared to 25% that is generated from health behaviors, genetics and biology (CDC, 2014). Moreover, health disparities impose a significant economic burden on society. The cost of health care disparities is estimated to be over $300 billion a year (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2012). Between the economic, social and moral implications of health disparities, this is the most important health problem for society to …show more content…
Stakeholders who should be most invested, may be uninformed or indifferent. Many don’t realize health inequity affects them. This is a major contribution to the problem. A survey in 2010 found less than 50% of Americans believe that African Americans are worse off than Whites in terms of life expectancy or infant mortality (Benz, Espinosa, Welsh, & Fontes, 2011) despite a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report that identifies infant mortality rates for African Americans were more than double that of Whites that same year (MacDorman & Mathews, 2014). Providers have also shown to be unaware of disparities. A 2005 study by the Kaiser Family Foundation revealed roughly half of physicians did not recognize, or agree, that minority patients received lower quality care than white patients (The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation [RWJF], 2007). Not recognizing a problem makes it difficult to
Show More

Related Documents: Health Disparities: A Case Study

Essay on Exam 1 In Class Review

classes take their exams 48 Questions, T/F, fill in blank, one matching = 100 pts total Author’s name, read intro & discussion/results sections Don’t worry about stats Know major findings – implications to health of varying races from articles Module 1: Article: Socioeconomic Disparities in Health by Paula Braveman Patterns in the US Lower income & lower education = Lower Social Economic Status Know which race groups have lowest/highest, healthiest, wealthiest, indicators were measured? 11 Interaction…

Words 1190 - Pages 5

Health Disparities In America

Although the term health disparities seems to represent a widely understood concept, its definition and exact meaning has caused much controversy. This is due to the fact that the most accepted definition of health disparities focuses on the differences that negatively and systematically affect those groups that are less advantaged and that not all differences in health status are considered to be disparities. Historically, in the United States, racial and ethnic disparities have been the primary…

Words 1129 - Pages 5

Racial Disparity In The Criminal Justice System

person, many obstacles I have to overcome have more to with my race and less to do with my abilities. Some of these obstacles come in the forms of education, access to health care and the criminal justice system. The term racial disparity refers to a difference that may or may not be related to discrimination. One type of racial disparity occurs when there is a significant difference between the percentage of a racial group represented in the general population and the percentage of the same group represented…

Words 963 - Pages 4

Disparities In Health

ongoing racial and ethnic unfairness in health. Overall, African Americans and a few other minorities live shorter lives and go through poorer health outcomes such as worse life expectancy, infant mortality, heart disease, diabetes, stroke and HIV/AIDS than whites and Asian Americans. It shows from recent studies that racial disparities between blacks and whites have been continuously prevalent throughout the years (Williams & Mohammed, 2009). Disparities found within a specific racial group are…

Words 822 - Pages 4

Racial Stratification

Mental health is a topic that has become increasing prevalent in today’s society as “one in five American adults experience a mental health issue” (Mental Health by the Numbers). Mental illness is a social problem that warrants discussion because it can be extremely deadly, as seen through the increased number of suicides, “the 10th leading cause of death in the United States” (Mental Health), and mass shootings, which can possibly be linked to untreated mental diseases. With this increase presences…

Words 1048 - Pages 5

Social Policy Paper

Secretary of Labor for policy, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a member of the Kennedy administration, dedicated himself to formulating national policies that would eventually become the War on Poverty. In 1965, he released his research paper The Negro Family: The Case for National Action AKA The Moynihan Report in which he focused on the deep issues that innately stemmed from the lack of a nuclear family in the Black community. He says, “At the heart of the deterioration of the fabric of Negro society is the deterioration of the Negro family…

Words 1362 - Pages 6

Community Outreach

neighborhood. CBPR has become widely recognized as a powerful approach to examining and addressing health disparities (Minkler, Blackwell, Thompson, & Tamir, 2003). A powerful ally to CBPR projects are philanthropic organizations who want to see change within local communities and have grown weary of the same tried and unsuccessful methods for helping groups who are at a greater health disparities. One of the Healthy People 2020 (HP2020) topics and objectives…

Words 537 - Pages 3

Advancing Equity In Clinical Preventive Services

ORIGINAL ARTICLE Advancing Equity in Clinical Preventive Services: The Role of Health Communication Kenzie A. Cameron1,2,3,4 1 Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, Department of Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611, USA 2 Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611, USA 3 Institute for Public Health and Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611…

Words 9218 - Pages 37

Essay about Gap Analysis

improving access to care, and reducing disparities (Yehia and Frank, 2011). State programs in Texas measures the benchmark process through individual performance thus completing semi-annual and annual report reflecting the attainable goals of the program. Individual accountability through performance measures is a major component in the strategic plan. Reduction of HIV infections in the state of Texas requires programs to focus on the continued rise in cases despite the advances in treatment allowing…

Words 2023 - Pages 9

Gender Differences In Lung Cancer

predominantly as an outcome of the immense tobacco consumption in the last decade (2). Toward the early twentieth century fewer cases of lung cancer were identified in Western countries, however, with the huge spread of tobacco consumption there was…

Words 1461 - Pages 6