Cultural Lifestyle Differences Offer Some Explanations Essay

The United States has been slow in addressing the need for an effective primary care health care system either due to special interest groups or the lack of a political “window of opportunity” to take on this challenge. In January 2000, an article in JAMA,

The United States has a unique system of healthcare delivery, it is complex and massive. Twenty-five years ago; American citizens had guaranteed insurance, meaning the patient could see any physician and the insurance companies and patients would share the cost. But today, 187.4 million Americans have private health insurance coverage (Medicaid, 2014). The subsystems of American health care delivery are Managed care, military, vulnerable populations and integrated delivery

Sultz, H.A. & Young, K.M. (2010). Health Care USA: Understanding its Organization And Delivery (7th ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Healthcare in the United States has reached a level of complexity which has perplexed Presidents, Congressional members and private industry for over a century (Palmer, 1999). While the healthcare system has evolved over the last century, policy decisions which have attempted to effectuate changes to cost, quality and access have been

Over the course of our countries history, the delivery of our health care system has tried to meet the needs of our growing and changing population. However, we somehow seem to fall short in delivering our goals of providing quality, affordable and accessible healthcare to our citizens. The history of our delivery system will show we continuously changed the delivery of our system however never mange to control cost. If we can come up with efficient ways to cut cost, the delivery of quality care will follow.

​African-Americans are the ethnic group most affected by HIV/AIDS. Ironically african-americans represent 14% of the population of the United States , but represent 44% across the gender line. African-american men represent 70% of HIV infections among the ethnic group, however african-american women are also highly at risk of HIV infection. Indeed they have a rate of infection that is 15 times greater than the rate for caucasion women (HIV among African-Americans, 2012). Most African-american women (85%) are infected with HIV through heterosexual sex, often with partners, who claim to be

A major change is occurring in the healthcare system as the United States continues to move toward enhancing patient care quality and access while also decreasing cost. This significant transformation is driven by a variety of forces, including changes in managed care, a shift from pay for service to pay for quality, and ever-evolving client characteristics. This paper aims to discuss each of these factors and the ways in which they make this major transformation a difficult one for the nation to undergo.

However, prior to the existence of the ACA, the American healthcare system left a lot to be desired and still today leaves room for improvement. The basic issues underlying efforts to improve the United States (US) health care system remain, as they have for decades, concerns for costs, access, and quality (Sultz, 2006). Even though knowledge, technology, and

HIV/AIDS Disparity among African Americans Health disparities are the differences in accessing and receiving quality of health care provided to different populations (book). The multiple causes of disparities may include gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, stigma or socioeconomic status. One of the common disparities in the US is among African American women who are infected by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and its viral successor, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). There is no clear answer as to why disparity is an ongoing problem within the population but factors that contribute to this epidemic include race itself, poverty or low income and lack of access to care

The cost and quality of health care and access to it is one of the foremost aspirations in national health care. And the overall main aims of reforming the American health care system is to reduce costs, enhance the quality of and access to health care [1].

The health care system must change to improve our nation’s health and takes strong steps to address the unsustainable growth of health care costs in America. We still have a long way to go before our health system become effective. We still have population that do not have insurance, have difficulties accessing their health care, or their needs are not met within the healthcare system. It is an investment in prevention and wellness and increasing access to primary care physician.

According to recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control, approximately 1.2 million individuals in the United States have HIV (about 14 percent of which are unaware of their infection and another 1.1 million have progressed to AIDS. Over the past decade, the number of HIV cases in the US has increased, however, the annual number of cases remains stable at about 50, 000 new cases per year. Within these estimates, certain groups tend to carry the burden of these disease, particularly the gay, bisexual, and men who have sex with men (MSM) and among race/ethnic groups, Blacks/African American males remain disproportionately affected. (CDC)

Our healthcare system needs major restructuring. Major improvements needs to begin with "all health care organizations, professional groups, and private and public purchasers should adopt as their explicit purpose to continually reduce the burden of illness, injury, and disability, and to improve the health and functioning of the people of the United States", (Crossing the ……, 2001).

Many people are unaware of their health status further increasing transmission of disease in young adult African American(AA) women age 18-24. Human Immunodeficiency Viruses (HIV) infects and also destroy blood cells (i.e. lymphocytes) that the body need to fight off infection (Mays 2011). African American women HIV positive, age 18-24 the magnitude of issue of the health disparity in this particular population will be addressed along with the many factors of social and health determinants. The health concern is towards the increase of transmission among young AA mothers and their children who are the health outcomes in many ways than one. The many social and health determinants that affect the women today are on going cycles that have yet to be broken. African American women make 64% of new infection cases for HIV. African american obtain a vulnerability unlike other minorities. The health population’s culture and stigma has played an important role in the community. The concern for AA women is the increase of new cases and most importantly the spread of the disease to these women’s children. The mortality rate of AA women with HIV is 47.1% as of 2012. (Siddiqi 2015)

Over the past century women have made huge accomplishments in the fight for equal rights. Over the past one hundred years woman have won the right to vote, the right to work and they have shattered the stereo-type that women must be ‘baby producing house keepers’. However, even with the success of the feminist movement there are still numerous issues that exist in all areas of life. Women occupy 50% of the work force but earn up to 20% less than males, 53% of the world's population is female however females only hold 1% of the world’s wealth. While feminism has come a long way in the previous years many believe that there is a long way to go before we can accurately say men and women have equal rights.