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Disparity Of African Americans

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I plan to discuss Older African Americans and the disparity of the quality of care in nursing homes. In 2008, 3.2 older African Americans lived in the United States, making up 8.3% of the older population. (Administration on Aging) This number is expected to grow to 9.9 million by the year 2050, making African Americans account for 11% of the population. 50% of Black Elderly lived in 8 states, which were New York, Florida, California, Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, Illinois, and Virginia. (Administration on Aging) 12% of older African Americans had a bachelors degree or higher. (Administration on Aging) Also in 2008, over 12% of Black older persons had a bachelor’s degree or higher. (Administration on Aging) In 2008, 30% of older black men …show more content…

A method to solve the socioeconomic issue, newer long-term facilities with great qualities, adequate staffing could be opened. The facilities could seek funds from the state, and from local donations such as churches, in an effort to open a long-term care facility with high quality but with lower costs. For nursing homes who refuse to admit older African Americans based on their chronic illness, people could begin to sue the nursing homes for discrimination and maybe that would stop the discrimination in admitting older African Americans to higher quality care facilities. Another method to lower and stop racial discrimination older African Americans face in nursing homes is to maybe have a black owned, and all black staff so that there wouldn’t be any point for racial discrimination to occur. For older African Americans who simply opt to check in to nursing homes with lower quality, there isn’t much one can do to change that except talk to them and make them aware that there are other alternatives in seeking long-term care facilities with higher quality. People could also call on policymakers to make a difference and call for uniform quality in all nursing homes. In rectifying the disparity, it would not be an easy task, but if the unequal treatment of African Americans in nursing homes is brought to America’s attention, I do agree that barriers of racial bias would have to be eliminated. (Popoola,

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