Essay On Health Disparities

The African American community, in contrast to the rest of Norco and Louisiana, is historically afflicted with higher rates of cancer and asthma related deaths (Margie 01:19:29:20 ), and more prone to birth defects (Wilma Subra 01:18:09:03 ). Closely related and contrastingly to this, the white community of Norco tends to have longer lifespans, and are apparently less affected by cancer and asthma (Sal 01:21:11:29 ). The film directly compares these two perspectives, layering them side by side chronologically. The film uses this comparison as evidence that the African American community’s close proximity to the Shell refinery is an environmental determinant to health. Furthermore, that geographic location and environment are factors directly affecting health.

2). One of the few social determinants of health, as mentioned in Healthy People 2020 that affects the African-American community, is Economic Stability. African-Americans are arbitrarily affected by low socioeconomic status. Xanthos, Treadwell, and Braithwaite-Holden (2010) state, “nearly 25% of African Americans live below the poverty line, three times the percentage of Whites” (p. 12). It is said that AA men have unreasonably lower-income jobs than their white counterparts.

Disadvantaged neighborhoods are general exposed to health hazards, including tobacco and alcohol advertisements as well as toxic waste incinerators, and pollution. As research has shown minority neighborhoods tend to have higher rates of mortality, morbidity, and health risk factors compared with white neighborhoods, even after accounting for economic and other characteristics. In general racial minorities have a lower socioeconomic status compared with

The Civil Rights act of 1964 along with Title VII gives employees the option to sue business owners based on color, race, sexual orientation, and religion. This act, rules on the fact, that individuals can take action if a discrimination or harassment issues happens at the employer’s workplace. It expands Civil Rights statues to provide more protection against people who are victimized due to discrimination. It sets the guidelines for job related issues due to disparate impact or treatment issues. However, this act does not assure that everyone who faces discrimination will be employed because frankly he is a minority. If it is felt that there is a possibility of

One issue with underserved populations is an increase in health disparities, not only race and ethnicity, but also gender and age. The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (2014) list a number of key findings from a report on underserved populations and health care. Mortality rates from certain diseases and different types of death were higher in different racial groups than Caucasians (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014). Morbidity of asthma, oral disease, tuberculosis, obesity, and diabetes were also higher in minority groups (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014). Preventive screening for the over-50 population was just over 60%

At the point when contrasted with whites, these minority bunches have higher rate of endless ailment, higher mortality and poor wellbeing results. Among the ailment particular cases of racial and ethnic variations in the united state is the tumor frequency rate among African Americans, which is 10% higher than among whites. Furthermore, grown up African Americans and Latinos have roughly double the danger as whites of creating diabetes. Minority likewise have higher rate of cardiovascular sickness, HIV/AIDS, newborn child mortality than whites.

Barriers in health care can lead to disparities in meeting health needs and receiving appropriate care, including preventive services and the prevention of unnecessary hospitalizations (HealthyPeople.gov, 2012). In their 2008 annual report, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality lists several disparities’ in health care. They report that racial and ethnic minorities in the United States

There is a strong correlation with an individual or group SES and the quality of health care received. Social Economic Class relates to what group of class an individual fit in based on their income, which can include wages, investments or other source. The quality of care depends on the facilities that is offering the services, the staff, accessibility to the service and the kind of health insurance that the person has. Affording health care is expensive and the lower or poor class has to decide between being able to afford food or other daily needs and going to a clinic for screening. Most of the time, individuals who fall in the class will ignore the health signs while

Sexual and social stigmas largely affect the health of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) population. While many reports from the Institute of Medicine, Healthy People 2020 and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality recognize a need to improve the quality of health care, barriers still remain. LGBT patients face legal discrimination, especially with insurance, a lack of social programs, and limited access to providers competent in LGBT health care. Although the Affordable Care Act increased access to care for LGBT patients, unless these patients feel understood by providers and develop trust in the system, they are not likely to utilize care. Healthcare providers need to recognize how these vulnerabilities, as well as persistent racism and stigma linked to sexual orientation and gender identity, make the healthcare needs of LGBT patients more challenging than the general population. Healthcare providers also need to promote cultural competence within this population and broaden their clinical lens to include health promotion, in addition to addressing concerns mentioned above within the population. Additionally, medical and nursing schools need to ensure that future providers are adequately educated by including information about this population in the curriculum.

The United States is a melting pot of cultural diversity. For a country that was founded by individuals fleeing persecution, it has taken us many years to grant African-Americans equal rights, and even longer for those rights to be recognized. Despite all the effort to eliminate inequality in this country, health disparity among this minority group remains a significant issue. Research in this area has pointed to several key reasons for this gap that center on differences in culture, socioeconomics, and lack of health literacy.

Hazards and pollutants are apparent in a variety of outcomes. Possible outcomes include asthma, cancer and chemical poisoning (Gee and Payne-Sturges 2004: 1647). Furthermore, “Although debated, the main hypothesis explaining these disparities is that disadvantaged communities encounter greater exposure to environmental toxins such as air pollution, pesticides, and lead” (Gee and Payne-Sturges 2004: 1647). Therefore, disadvantaged groups, such as people of color and the poor, experience greater environmental risks. Additionally, “Blacks in particular are exposed to a disproportionate amount of pollution and suffer the highest levels of lead and pesticide poisoning and other associated health problems” (Jones and Rainey 2006: 474). People of color, essentially, compete to live healthily. For example, African-Americans and Africans alike, struggle with the negative affects of oil refineries and unresponsive governments. The same can be said for Hispanics in California and the natives of Ecuador, who are forced to cope with the pollution of the Texaco oil refineries (Bullard 2001: 4). Environmental racism not only exploits natural resources, it abuses and profits from the communities involved. Governments and polluting facilities will continue to capitalize on the economic susceptibilities of poor communities, states, nations and regions for their “unsound” and hazardous operations (Bullard 2001: 23).

In recent discussions of health care disparities, a controversial issue has been whether racism is the cause of health care disparities or not. On one hand, some argue that racism is a serious problem in the health care system. From this perspective, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) states that there is a big gap between the health care quality received by minorities, and the quality of health care received by non-minorities, and the reason is due to racism. On the other hand, however, others argue that health care disparities are not due to racism. In the words of Sally Satel, one of this view’s main proponents, “White and black patients, on average don’t even visit the same population of

Negative health outcomes plague most cities; things such as pollution, lack of exercise, and poor access to food effect most residents of cities. However, these things disproportionately affect minority groups living within cities. In the United States minority groups are often disadvantaged economically and as such tend to live in less desirable neighborhoods. These neighborhoods are typically near sources of pollution and the houses therein are old and may have lead paint or plumbing and electrical systems that aren’t update to date. Lead paint, lead pipes, and mold are all examples of health hazards lurking in the homes in inner cities.

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

Environmental racialization is a common problem that can’t be proven without intentionality. Although, there are some cases where it’s obvious that environmental issues are disproportionately affecting minorities. Children that are either Hispanic or Black in the United States are being severely affected by environmental problems more than adults due to air pollution. The Black and Hispanic communities are experiencing various health problems due to air pollution disproportionately affecting them. In this paper, I will argue that air pollution disproportionately affects Hispanic or Black children in the United States because; they are more likely to have asthma due to air pollution, they’re placed in hazardous areas which causes them to experience air pollution, they face glucose metabolism due to air pollution, and have a higher risk of getting cancer in the future. There are clear indications to intentionality; in addition, Hispanic and Black children are specifically facing crucial health problems that white individuals are not facing due to air pollution disproportionately affecting the Hispanic and Black communities.