African American Self Care Literature Review

African Americans are twice as likely to die of an illness such as cancer and heart disease as well as, less likely to have health access compared to any other race. African Americans are yet subject to racial discrimination and stereotypes in the health care, that leads them without the correct health screenings and treatments. The root of these racial disparities connects with the intersectionality of race, class, gender and education.

In the United States today cultural diversity is growing more prevalent every day. The report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM: Unequal treatment, 2002) presented information that racial and ethnic minorities of all ages receive lower quality health care compared to their non-minority counterparts. Every effort should be made to stop the disparities surrounding cultural differences while attempting to understand the cultural health behaviors, increase cultural

Conclusively, low socioeconomic disparities, lack of proper access to health care services, grievous historical medical experiences, lack of awareness along with distrust are some of the leading setbacks within the Black American sectors relationship with the health care system. Thereupon, it is in the hands of the medical community and the hands of the vulnerable population to gain a common ground for productive trust. Hopefully, through new studies, with the reduction of distrust towards the health care system, the Black American can assuredly facilitate services to accessing health care and a developed foundation of trust from the health care

     The article on Black America Web entitled “The state of Black America, Part 4: Health as Wealth” (Lewis, 17 Jan. 05) is mainly addressing how African Americans should get check-ups, eat a healthier diet, exercise, among other things to maintain their health. The authors main point of writing an article about health is so that African Americans will be propelled to take preventative measures to prevent and treat disease that may be debilitating or lethal, to get professional help if they are not feeling mentally prepared, and to put aside mistrust of the medical profession.

It is a cliché of health education that programs and interventions will be more effective when they are culturally appropriate for the populations they serve. In practice, however, the strategies used to achieve cultural appropriateness vary widely. This paper briefly describes African American history and how it relates to health care services. It explains the culture, value and belief of African American when it involves health promotion and disease prevention. Some major health concerns and barriers are noted within the black communities and population

The patient centered medical homes (“PCMH”) approach “focuses on keeping people well, managing chronic conditions like diabetes or asthma, and proactively meeting the needs of patients.” According to the Arkansas Department of Health, chronic diseases like cancer heart disease or diabetes affect approximately over fifty percent of adult Arkansans. Yet chronic diseases are often preventable. The high rate of chronic diseases can partly be attributed health insurance coverage—“when people don’t have health insurance they tend to avoid seeing doctors. People

A notable discrepancy exists between health care received by the black population in comparison to the white population. However, the foundation of health care inconsistencies has yet to be firmly established. Instead, conflicting views prioritize causes of health care disparities as due to social determinants or due to individual responsibility for health (Woolf & Braveman, 2011). Emerging literature also indicates that health care providers propagate disparities by employing implicit biases (Chapman, Kaatz, & Carnes, 2013; Dovidio, Fiske, 2012). This paper aims to discuss black health care disparities as a function of socially constructed beliefs that both consciously and unconsciously influence health care professionals practice.

13.2% of the United States population identifies themselves as Black as African Americans, and of those over 16% had an mental illness that was diagnosable. The socio economic impact of a history of slavery, sharecropping and race-based exclusion from health, racism, spiritual beliefs, social and economic resources, education and other factors are key factors that contribute to African American disparities today. Many of these things are linked to mental health. According to the US department of health, African Americans are 20% more likely to report having serious psychological distress than in non-Hispanic whites (. Despite knowing this, African Americans are less likely to seek mental health services than white Americans.

(2015) notes that “Starting in 1997, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requires federal agencies to use a minimum of five race categories: White, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander.” Each minority group differs in health status and disparities and health promotion. In this paper the writer will focus on a specific minority group, the Black or African Americans, and will

The main reason for choosing the African American population for this work is because of its unique array of cultural backgrounds. African American communities across the United States are more culturally diverse now than any other time in history with increasing numbers of immigrants from African nations, the Caribbean, Central America and other countries (American Psychiatric Association, 2014). The United States is among the most ethnically diverse nations on the planet (Peterson, K., 2008). With the demographics of the United States constantly changing and as ethnic cultural diversity emerges heightening of culturally competent care is at hand. All cultures have systems of health belief to explain what cause illness, how it can be

Health care has been the talk of many debates lately. There are populations of people that are living with chronic illnesses, or just not obtaining the kind of care they need. This paper will diagnosticate what factors are exacerbating and meliorating this problem, including: health insurance policies, cultural influences, and accessibility. This examination points out limitations in the overall system of United States healthcare, and will provide two possible approaches that community psychologists would take to address this social problem.

Racial and ethnic disparities can be a touchy subject when talking among many circle of people, even so with some Caucasian sub-group.US Census reported that 1 in 4 Americans are of a race other than white; 1 in 3 children are African American, Hispanic, or Asian; and 1 in 10 people are of foreign-born. When majority dictated make all decisions and the minorities does not have any power. This cultural diversity can have inferences with our health care. Ethnic culture affects our beliefs, health, illness, and medications, as well as how we interact with our healthcare providers, and even how we comply with our prescribed medications, as well as mental health status (Cultural diversity and Medication Safety , 2003).

In doing so, he pays particularly close attention to black patients and their relations with health care policies and practices. Smedly maintains that blacks are not only the victims of, inpatient and outpatient treatment, racial policies, and other services but also the victims of its consequences. He argues that many health care administrators are agents to a system of inequality that support provider and administrator biases, geographical inequalities, and racial stereotypes (Smedly 2012).

In order to provide culturally appropriate care, an examination of one's personal views, beliefs, and prejudices must be examined. The first portion of this paper will examine my personal values, beliefs, biases, and prejudices. The remaining paper will analyze the African American culture relating to the Ginger and Davidhizar's Transcultural Assessment Model cited in Hood (2010). This model uses six key cultural elements that include communication, space, social organization, time, environment, and biological variations. This model provides a systematic approach for assessing culturally diverse clients. I will also discuss an aspect of care that I would

Butler brings to attention that even states within the United States that have a bigger ratio of “social services” spending to health care have seen better health outcomes, such as lower rates of heart disease and obesity (2). In addition, one must also consider the diverse population of the U.S. when it comes to certain preventative measures. Lesley Russell lists out some critical factors of the different races and their likeness to certain illnesses in the “Center for American Progress”. For instance, African Americans had the highest rate of adult obesity as compared to the white population (3). Some races may be more susceptible to certain illnesses and those statistics are important factors to consider when focusing preventative health care on certain population. If certain races of the population are more susceptible to obesity, for example, then we would need to inform physicians to advise those patients and perhaps offer some programs to help prevent further health risks. Although, focusing on preventative medicine rather than “reacting” health care might seem risky, there is enough evidence to see the benefits of implementing stronger preventative health care. Better to stop an illness from happening in the first place rather than when it is too late or risking falling into