Essay On Health Disparities

According to Riegelman and Kirkwood (2015) there are many social determinants that influence our health. These may include, but are not limited to; income, educational level, culture, and professional status. All of these things can contribute to our health, because they are the things we are surrounded with: a way of life. Most of these determinants are structurally unequal. This means that a person doesn’t have a choice, but to be part of that determinant. We do not have the choice of being born into a rich or poor family, what culture we are raised in, and so on. These inequalities lead to heath disparities. Health disparities are the differences between groups’ health that are/ can be caused by structural inequalities (Disparities 2017). For example, Henrietta Lacks came from a poor family and her health was negatively affected by the social determinants that come along with that lifestyle. On the other hand, we could look at a rich family during that time and their health could have been positively affected. We will look at how different social determinants caused Henrietta Lacks to experience both structural inequalities and heath disparities.

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

“Health is a state of complete physical, mental, spiritual and social wellbeing, and not just the absence of disease” (WHO, 1974). Health inequalities are the differences in health or healthcare opportunities in different societies this may be due to income,

Potter and Perry (2017) states, “Health disparities are preventable differences in the burden of disease, injury, violence, or opportunities to achieve optimal health.” Health disparity is experienced by social disadvantaged populations. These vulnerable populations can include race or ethnicity, gender, education, income, disability, and geographic location (Potter & Perry, 2017, p. 33). The Banes family

Healthcare plays a crucial part in our lives. Health disparities “phrase references black-white differences as well health disadvantages characteristic of other ethnic groups “of color,” such as Hispanics, Asians, and Native Americans” (Coreil, 2010 p. 167). Many socio-ecological factors that contribute to the existence of health disparities when it comes immunizations. An individual ability to have access to health care, insurance status, income level, provider and patient knowledge have a significant impact on vaccination rates.

Barriers to healthcare include factors that restrict or hinder people from receiving adequate and quality health care service. Health care disparities are those differences that negatively affects less advantaged group (Mehta, 2014). Health care barriers play a significant role in comprehending causes of disparities. This paper will discuss the obstacles and disparities that exist and affects healthcare.

Difficulties in accessing preventative care create a health disparity by allowing health issues to grow in severity before medical intervention occurs (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2008). If access to preventative services is increased then the prevalence of health disparity will likely decrease.

.Health disparities is a population-specific difference in the existence of multiple health outcomes, diseases, and entry to healthcare. Health disparities are known among diverse ethics for instance like Native Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, and African Americans. These groups have a higher chance of chronic conditions along with having a higher percentage in mortality and impoverished health outcomes. Most developing countries are more prone to having health disparities. Studies have shown that poverty, poor access to health care, and exposure to the environmental problem are the leading cause of health disparities.

As your mention in your post, health disparities affect to low-income people. These populations have behaviors that increase the risk of cancer from smoking cigarettes, eating unhealthy foods and not enough physical activity or engaging in sexual activities increasing the risk. The social environment plays an important role and describes the social conditions in which people work and live.

Health disparities are the inequalities that appear in the arrangement of healthcare and approaches to healthcare across different racial, ethnic, sexual orientation and socioeconomic group.

Health disparities are differences in health outcomes due to factors such as socioeconomic status, sex/gender, ethnicity, race, lifestyle choices, education, cultural norms, and religious beliefs. These factors lead to differences in treatment and outcomes such as disability or mortality. In the United States, Alzheimer’s is the ranked as the sixth leading cause of death and “is the only cause of death in the top 10 that cannot currently be cured, prevented, or slowed” (Nichols, 2017). While research is being done, there remains wide gaps in which people develop the disease and which do not, although age is definitely a major factor. Alzheimer’s currently affects approximately 5.4 million Americans, including an estimated 200,000 individuals younger than 65 who suffer from early onset Alzheimer's (Nichols, 2017).

When it comes to and social determinants of health not everyone are at the same advantage. Those that are wealthy have a greater means of receiving treatment for their illness than those that are less fortunate. Even with the new law implemented by president Obama the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the less fortunate have received less than equal care form some providers. To better understand what heath disparities is it can be defined as the differences in access to or availability of facilities and services to the public. Health disparities also refer to the variation in rates of disease occurrence and disabilities between socioeconomic and or geographically defined population groups.

Health inequalities are preventable and unjust differences in health status experienced by certain population groups. People in lower socio-economic groups are more likely to experience health inequalities than people in higher socio-economic classes. Health inequalities are not only found between people of different

Health equality is a system where there are no health disparities (as cited in Yukiko, Hurley, Norheim, & Johri, 2015). There are equal opportunities for quality health care for all, regardless of race, status, or income levels. Inequality of health care is out of an individual’s control and is viewed as unfair (Yukiko et al., 2015). Health inequities measure the amount of inequality in health. “In the measurement of health equity, a question arises as to how we should classify unexplained health inequality- fair or unfair, which is an ethical question (Yukiko et al., 2015,

Health disparities refer to the differences of the health status, injury and diseases prevention, and optimal health opportunity achieving, which are experienced by different groups of people (CDC., 2008). These groups of people can be defined by such factors (determinants) as the gender, ethnicity and race, social and community networks, living and working conditions (education, income, unemployment, work environment, housing), and socioeconomic position (Hernandez & Blazer, 2006). In addition, the health disparities are directly related to the historical and current unequal distribution of the political, social, and environmental resources. These factors could guide to think that crediting the individuals for having good health or blaming them for