Asian American Health Status

Among minorities such as Asians, Hispanics, Indians, Native Americans, and Middle Easterners, the African American race has been affected tremendously by the health disparities in the United States. Currently, African Americans have significantly higher mortality rates from cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, HIV, unintentional injuries, pregnancy, sudden infant death syndrome, and homicide than do whites Americans (Fiscella & Williams, 2004). While African Americans may lead in these categories, other minorities are not far behind in experiencing health disparities.

With the increasing immigrant population a third barrier affecting access to health care is a cultural barrier. Culture barriers can include values and beliefs, language and race and ethnicity. Health beliefs and behavior can become a barrier when patients decide not to seek medical treatment and instead turn to home remedies and healers when treating illnesses. Approximately 10% of Americans speak a language other than English and can be classified ad being limited in their proficiency. For these patients language becomes a barrier and they are less likely to receive optimal medical treatment (Flores, 2006). Horton and Johnson (2010) stress the importance of communication in reducing disparities and increasing the trust of patients in the health care system. As reported by the American College of Physicians, evidence reveals that racial and ethnic minorities are more likely to receive inferior care when compared with non-minorities. This occurs even when minorities have access to insurance and adequate income (Racial and ethnic disparities in health care, 2010).

From Japan, Korea, Philippians, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Bhutan, China, Nepal, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Asian American are considered to the minority population in us with less health related problems.

Also, they want to make a better quality, more accessible, affordable and equitable in United States (2015). In California, the NHQR focuses on current disparities in health care that recounted to racial issues and socioeconomic factors base on population (AHRQ, 2015). In California, the measure of Asian Pacific Islander in the close benchmark had about 21% of death per one thousand admissions with PTCA disease with an age of 40 years old and over. However, the measures that archived the benchmark or better those admissions for asthma per 100,000 populations with an age of 18 to 39 years old it’s about 86 %.

Asian Americans with no other ancestry comprise 4.8% of the U.S. population while people who are Asian alone or combined with at least one other race make up 5.6%

Despite improvements, differences persist in health care quality among racial and ethnic minority groups. People in low-income families also experience poorer quality care (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2013). Access to care measures include facilitators and barriers to care and health care utilization experiences of subgroups defined by race and ethnicity, income, education, availability of health insurance, limited English proficiency, and availability of a usual source of care (Mandal, 2014).

Approximately 1 in 6 individuals are Hispanic in the United States, and the population is expected to grow to 1 in 4 by 2035 (CDC, 2015). Given that, Hispanics are the biggest minority group in the US (CDC, 2015). The leading cause of death among the Hispanic population is heart disease and cancer responsible for around 2 out of 5 deaths (CDC, 2015). Hispanics have a 50% greater chance of death resulting from diabetes or liver disease than whites (CDC, 2015). Additionally, there are 3 times as more uninsured Hispanics than whites (CDC, 2015). According to the US average, whites are 15 years older than the Latino population, so prevention will greatly benefit the health of the Latino population (CDC, 2015).

Although the United States is a leader in healthcare innovation and spends more money on health care than any other industrialized nation, not all people in the United State benefit equally from this progress as a health care disparity exists between racial and ethnic minorities and white Americans. Health care disparity is defined as “a particular type of health difference that is closely linked with social or economic disadvantage…adversely affecting groups of people who have systematically experienced greater social and/or economic obstacles to health and/or clean environment based on their racial or ethnic group; religion; socioeconomic status; gender; age; mental health; cognitive, sensory or physical disability; sexual orientation or gender identity; geographic location; or other characteristics historically linked to discrimination or exclusion” (National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities [NPAEHD], 2011, p. 3). Overwhelming evidence shows that racial and ethnic minorities receive inferior quality health care compared to white Americans, and multiple factors contribute to these disparities, including geography, lack of access to adequate health coverage, communication difficulties between patients and providers, cultural barriers, and lack of access to providers (American College of Physicians,

Asian Americans face health disparities in cancer, chronic diseases, hypertension, and diabetes, mental health, and among the elderly (Sy, n.d.). I wanted to focus on what one of the most leading cause of Asian Americans or Pacific Islander is Cancer. Asian Americans generally have lower cancer rates than the non-Hispanics white population. However, disparities still exist in the certain type of cancer. According to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, Asians are 40 percent less likely to have prostate cancer as white men, but they are twice as likely to have stomach cancer. Although Asians women are 30 percent less likely to have breast cancer than white women, they are twice as likely to have stomach cancer. OHM also conclude that Asian men and women have 2.1 and 2.3 times the incidence of liver and IBD cancer as the non-Hispanic white population. Asian are twice as likely to die from stomach cancer as compared to the non-Hispanic white population, and Asian women are 2.4 times as likely to die from the same disease (Office of Minority Health,

Through REACH, CDC supports awardee partners that will establish community-based programs and culturally-tailored interventions serving African Americans, American Indians, Hispanics/Latinos, Asian Americans, Alaska Natives, and Pacific Islanders. Interventions focus on proper nutrition, physical activity, tobacco use and exposure, and chronic disease prevention, risk reduction and management opportunities. Additionally, awardees will address health disparities in heart disease, diabetes, and infant health. The intent of REACH is to build an evidence base that supports community-centered approaches to reducing or eliminating health disparities. (REACH 2014 Awardees, para.

Asian-Americans are people who have origins in the Far East, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. In American census of 2000, Asians comprise of roughly 3.6% of the population or 10 million people. By 2050 the population will grow to 36.6 million people. Although Asian American women have the highest life expectancy, they “suffer disproportionately from certain types of cancers, tuberculosis and hepatitis B” (2). Liver cancer cases are relatively low in the United States but highest among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Hepatitis B is a major cause of liver disease. Approximately 1 out of 12 Asian Americans has the chronic version of Hepatitis B. Many do not recognize it before it is too late (1).

Asian Americans are often stereotyped as “healthy”. However, they still have a high risk to many diseases and face many disparities. A language can interfere with receiving quality health care. If doctors can’t understand them or are culturally incompetent, it leads

In the video from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health allowed us to see the disparity in health care access among social and ethnic groups. Social statuses played a significant role in the population’s health condition and mortality. Populations with higher statuses and income are able to afford a better life due to the fact that they have the money to obtain health insurance that allows them access to specialized care that improves their health outcomes and decreases their mortality. However, regardless of social economic status, a persons ethnic background and skin color plays a critical role in the prognosis and outcomes of their health issues due to the fact that people of color are discriminated and have minimal

Differences in CRC screening trends among Asian ethnic groups are not entirely explained by differences in demographic characteristics, English proficiency and access to care. A better understanding of mutable factors such as rates of doctor recommendation and health beliefs will be crucial for designing culturally appropriate interventions to promote CRC

Changes in access to health care across different populations are the chief reason for current disparities in health care provision. These changes occur for several reasons, and some of the main factors that contribute to the problem in the United States are: Lack of health insurance – Several racial, ethnic, socioeconomic and other minority groups lack adequate health insurance coverage in comparison with people who can afford healthcare insurance. The majority of these individuals are likely to put off health care or go without the necessary healthcare and medication that is needed. Lack of financial resources – Lack of accessibility to funding is a barrier to health care for a lot of people living in the United States