Essay On Health Disparities

Oh Lord, help all of the black communities to fight back against poverty and give them strengths the disparities around of their communities. Martin Luther King offered his life and died for the cause of inequality, hoping that one day there would not be any discrimination, disparity, poverty and the segregation among the people of color. Nevertheless, people who lived in the black community receive less attention than the elites.

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

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “health disparities are preventable differences in the burden of disease, injury, violence, or in opportunities to achieve optimal health experienced by socially disadvantaged racial, ethnic, and other population groups, and communities” (CDC, 2017).  It  is easy to believe that control on overall health relies solely on making  a firm decision (the “right” decision" to lead a healthy lifestyle— by being active and eating a balanced-diet. There are other factors to be considered in evaluating and understanding health disparities: why people seem to be noncompliant? Or why people aren’t seeking medical attention in a timely manner?  In reading

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.

The rate of death due to prescription drug abuse in the U.S. has escalated 313 percent over the past decade. According to the Congressional Quarterly Transcription’s article "Rep. Joe Pitt Holds a Hearing on Prescription Drug Abuse," opioid prescription drugs were involved in 16,650 overdose-caused deaths in 2010, accounting for more deaths than from overdoses of heroin and cocaine. Prescribed drugs or painkillers sometimes "condemn a patient to lifelong addiction," according to Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This problem not only affects the lives of those who overdose but it affects the communities as well due to the convenience of being able to find these items in drug stores and such.

Disparities in healthcare are a real and urgent problem in our nation. There is indisputable data supporting the fact that disparities exist not only across different racial groups, but also across the cultural and economic stratification of our society. Moreover, there is even data showing disparities among each of these respective groups along gender lines. So what can be done about these disparities to assure that all patients receive equal and adequate care? Well, there are certainly many political and governmental changes or modifications that would go a long way towards narrowing the gaps in healthcare, but such changes are beyond the scope of this paper. Instead, I will focus on the steps that I,

Here in America, there is an ongoing tragedy ceaselessly unfolding right before our eyes. Beyond the calamities of gun violence, the loss of innocent lives through ruthless crimes and deadly motor vehicle accidents, there is a crisis occurring in the very homes of many Americans. There is a proceeding addiction to the pill bottles hidden behind bathroom mirrors, needles poking through the surface of fragile skin to get a “fix”, and prescriptions being written left and right with the intention to help but the potential to kill. Here in America, over 115 people die every single day from overdosing on opioids and this is a reality that has been nothing short of deadly since as early as 1990.

People in Florida are experiencing a rapid increase in opioid use. Thousands of families will and have been affected by the epidemic including children. Opioids are prescribed medications that is used in treating pain. If not taken properly, opioids can lead to an addiction that will forever change your life. The main prescribers of opioids are medical professionals, who choose to run ‘pill mills’. While running these ‘pill mills’, professionals are getting rich and ruining the lives of many.

Written with the purpose to inform its audience about the very real and very serious Heroin epidemic spreading through our country, using expert storytelling and exhaustive detail, Quinones chronicles the perfect storm of circumstances that cleared the way for Heroin to infiltrate our communities over the last two decades. His story centers on Portsmouth, Ohio, home to the nation’s first pill mill*. Following the release of OxyContin in 1996, corrupt physicians seized the opportunity to get rich quick. Addicts traveled to pain clinics by the carload, bearing forged MRIs and false complaints of pain, sometimes trading sexual favors for pills. Soon, Portsmouth had more pills per capita than any other city. “If you see lines of people

Within the United States, there are substantial inequalities between the places and people. The rural community is one of such significant inequalities and health care disparities. With approximately one-sixth of the population in the United States of America living in rural areas, it is necessary to address the social and economic conditions accountable for the health disparities and inequalities among this vulnerable population.

While many of the pain clinics operating were legitimate the door was open for “pill mills” that prescribe or distribute controlled substances inappropriately (Rigg, March, & Inciardi, 2010). In 2008 alone, the number of pill mills in South Florida (Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties) more than doubled with Broward County seeing the largest increase; earning it the distinction of being known as “The Painkiller Capital of the United States” (Rigg, March, & Inciardi, 2010). By 2009, there were more pill mills in Broward County than McDonalds (Florida Office of the Attorney General, 2012). In 2009, Florida began to take seriously the issue of prescription drug diversion and took legislative steps to try and reverse this trend. In October of 2011, Florida joined 36 other states in implementing a Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) to simultaneously prevent doctors from overprescribing and patients from “doctor shopping” and “pharmacy hopping” (Delcher, Wagenaar, Goldberger, Cook, & Maldonado-Molina, 2015). Following the implementation of Florida’s PDMP statewide prescription drug diversion rates began to decline; this paper will explore the effectiveness of PDMP’s as one intervention responsible for the

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.

classes are perhaps not as clear as they used to be. But it is just as

The Behavioural or Cultural Explanation: places emphasis on the individuals and the consequences of their behaviour, when they choose to eat, drink and live healthily the inequalities will be reduced.

Every state is a unique entity within the US; population demographic case-mix, socioeconomic status, geography and laws and guidelines differ across states. Some states perform better than others in general and the opioid epidemic follows the same rule. But why? Researchers focused on uncovering these opioid related inconsistencies; their findings indicate that multiple factors, other than physicians as described so far, are explanatory for this variation. They found statistically significant results explaining opioid prescriptions and deaths related to race, where non-Hispanic whites accounted for more opioids and overdose deaths; specific disease prevalence, particularly diabetes and arthritis; geographical