Determinants of Health and Pediatric Nursing The health care profession treats determinants of well being as direct indicators of an individual’s ability to sustain good health. Therefore, this translates directly to pediatrics as the ability of an infant or young child to equally sustain good health. Social determinants of health include stress, social exclusion, social gradient, transport, food, unemployment, addiction, and work. These factors are perceived as of significance because they develop the inequitable divergences in medical outcomes across various social factions. The health care community in the recent decade has done a lot to minimize the health differences through acts, such as The Affordable Care Act (ACA). However, health disparities continue to characterize the American health care system due to its isolation of minority communities. Researchers have informed that health disparities affect persons based on their religion, ethnicity, race, and socioeconomic status. For this, improving health through looking at social determinants needs to focus on non-health social services as much as it does on health care. The American healthcare system needs to spend more on non-health social services in order to mitigate present health disparities. According to Cox and Kamal (2016), the U.S spends much less on non-health social services compared to other countries and compared to what it spends on health. Contrasted with countries of near similar wealth and size, the
The U.S. Health system spends a higher portion of its gross domestic product than any other country but ranks 37 out of 191 countries according to its performance.” (WHO, 2000, p. 1) Progression in the United States has not kept up with the advances in other wealthy nations dealing with the population health. Disease and chronic disability report almost 50% of America health problem (JAMA, 2013).
. Addressing health inequalities and health care is not only important from the point of view of social justice, but also to improving the health of all Americans by improving the quality of care and health of their children. People. Moreover, the difference in health is expensive. An analysis estimates that about 30% of total direct medical expenses for blacks, Hispanics and Asians are excessive costs due to inequalities in health. The difference also leads to economic losses due to indirect costs related to loss of productivity and premature mortality. (Artiga,
In “The American Health Care Paradox”, Elizabeth H. Bradley and Lauren A. Taylor explore why the American health care system achieves mediocre results, despite spending a higher percentage of its gross domestic product than any other country in the world on health care. They explain that health care is more than just getting medical treatment, but there are social factors that affect a person 's health. The authors claim that more government spending on medical treatments is not the solution to the health care paradox, but we should focus more on social needs that have a greater impact on health. Case studies and interviews with physicians, other health care providers, and social service providers are used to support the authors’ claims. Though the authors do not explicitly state the path they believe the American health care system should follow, they give examples of foreign health care systems and domestic health care projects that may point in the right direction.
Health disparities endure tenacious issues in the United States of America, setting certain groups at higher risk of being uninsured, limited access to care, facing a poorer quality of care, and overall negative health outcomes. The high incidence of health disparities reflects the range of individual, social, economic, racial/ethnic and environmental magnitudes. Among the minority groups, African-Americans disproportionately access health care and the health disparities clearly glow in the nationwide.
Although the United States is a leader in healthcare innovation and spends more money on health care than any other industrialized nation, not all people in the United State benefit equally from this progress as a health care disparity exists between racial and ethnic minorities and white Americans. Health care disparity is defined as “a particular type of health difference that is closely linked with social or economic disadvantage…adversely affecting groups of people who have systematically experienced greater social and/or economic obstacles to health and/or clean environment based on their racial or ethnic group; religion; socioeconomic status; gender; age; mental health; cognitive, sensory or physical disability; sexual orientation or gender identity; geographic location; or other characteristics historically linked to discrimination or exclusion” (National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities [NPAEHD], 2011, p. 3). Overwhelming evidence shows that racial and ethnic minorities receive inferior quality health care compared to white Americans, and multiple factors contribute to these disparities, including geography, lack of access to adequate health coverage, communication difficulties between patients and providers, cultural barriers, and lack of access to providers (American College of Physicians,
Major disparities continue to exist in spite of America’s “Affordable Care Act”, Although minorities suffer disease five times greater than the rest of the nation, minorities represent the majority of the disparity. Infant Mortality has always been America’s indicator as to the state of the countries health status. America is one of the wealthiest and most powerful nations in the world, However, America ranks number 24th in the world for infant mortality. Puerto Rican and Indian women rank highest among ethnic classes with low infant mortality rates. Some researchers have found lack of prenatal access as the key contributing factor to low mortality and birth weights among these two ethnic classes.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), “health equity is achieved when every person has the opportunity to attain his or her full health potential and no one is disadvantaged from achieving this potential because of social position or other socially determined circumstances” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2015). Satcher (2010) reports that health inequities are “systematic, avoidable, and unjust” disparities (p. 6). He also states that the World Health Organization (WHO) concluded that social conditions are the most important determinant of a person’s health. Social conditions “determine access to health services and influence lifestyle choices” (Satcher, 2010, p. 6). These determinants must be addressed in order to reduce health inequity. Inequity can be
A variety of challenges including personal, social, economic, and environmental factors can determine the health of an individual as well as its community. Others determinants of health include genetics, access to medical care, and socioeconomic measures such as education and poverty. Any interference among these factors can often lead to health disparities, which are health gaps that exist between different communities and populations. Health disparities can affect communities based on gender, age, race, social status, economic status, or special care needs. Therefore to understand which factors affect the health of a community, it is necessary to examine the social and economic conditions in which people live in, as well as the rates of diseases
Today, racial and ethnic disparities exist in the public healthcare system in the United States. It is strongly supported by data that depicts members of the minority groups receive disproportionately from different health issues such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and asthma, among other conditions. The main contributors to the racial and ethnic disparities in the public healthcare are the social determinants of the health external to the healthcare delivery system. In addition, social and economic status also affect people’s vulnerability to the disease and their accessibility to public health services. The article provides historical analysis that shows a deteriorating status in the
Socioeconomic status and gender is considered a cause of racial disparities in health since it constrains access to power, social and psychological resources, and economic capital. Those with low socioeconomic status and in segregated areas have less access to quality elementary and high school education since they normally have less qualified teachers, lower test scores, and fewer connections to colleges. These individuals also experience less employment opportunities because employers discriminate based on the residence of the job applicants since they view individuals in low-income areas as being drug users, having poor communication skills, low reading levels, and family issues. This leaves the residents in racially segregated neighborhoods jobless so they cannot increase their socioeconomic status (Takeuchi et al. 2010). The state of poverty is likely to continue for these individuals because they do not possess the necessary means to reduce their
According to the Garber & Skinner (2008), the United States spends more on health care than other nations but continues to score below other nations in numerous areas of measurement. These scores in, consideration with amount spent, suggest that healthcare is the United States is inefficient. Additionally, the United States has a significantly large portion of under
The single most important impetus for healthcare reform throughout recent history has been rising costs (Sultz, 2006). In the book called The healing of America: a global quest for better, cheaper, and fairer health care, Reid wrote that the nation’s health care system has become excessively expensive, ineffective, and unjust. Among the world’s developed nations, the US ranks near the bottom for healthcare access and quality. However, the US ranks at the top for health expenditure as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and average of $7,400 per person (Reid, 2010). Therefore, Americans are spending
Health disparities are defined as unfair health differences experienced by people of different social, economic and/or environment background, including ethnic and cultural minorities (Jarvis, 2016 ). Racial and ethnic disparities adversely affect pregnant women and infants which limit their access to health care and other services resulting to low birth weight infants and preterm births. For example, preterm birth, low birth weight and infant mortality are higher in black population, compared to the white population (National Center for Health Statistics, 2012). Low birth weights and premature births puts them at high risk for long term health problems, social and financial consequences for the family and on the community. As they
One fundamental concern of public health is why some people are healthier than others. Part of the answer may be related to health and health care disparities, which are the differences or gaps in health (eg, life expectancy, morbidity, risk factors, and quality of life) and health care access and quality between segments of the US population as related to race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status (eg, income, education). In fact, racial and ethnic minority children are more likely to receive treatment for asthma in emergency departments as opposed to seeing a primary care physician for medical care. (2013, July).
Changes in access to health care across different populations are the chief reason for current disparities in health care provision. These changes occur for several reasons, and some of the main factors that contribute to the problem in the United States are: Lack of health insurance – Several racial, ethnic, socioeconomic and other minority groups lack adequate health insurance coverage in comparison with people who can afford healthcare insurance. The majority of these individuals are likely to put off health care or go without the necessary healthcare and medication that is needed. Lack of financial resources – Lack of accessibility to funding is a barrier to health care for a lot of people living in the United States