Health Disparities Among African Americans

The purpose of this paper is to exemplify the healthcare crisis of African Americans within the broader context of American healthcare reform. In order for one to appreciate the depth of necessity for healthcare reform in the African American community, he or she must have a general understanding of the history of healthcare for African Americans. As stated by the institute of medicine in a study assessing the health and mental health disparities of African Americans, “The sources of these disparities are complex, are rooted in historic and contemporary inequities, and involve many participants at several levels, including health systems, their administrative and bureaucratic processes, utilization managers, healthcare professionals, and

Race-based health disparities are believed to exist because African Americans have poorer access to care, receive lower quality healthcare treatment, and have generally poorer health outcomes than whites. In addition, African Americans also receive poorer pain treatment.

Racial and ethnic health disparities have been a topic on the rise as of late. According to Flores (2010), little attention has been shown to ethic and racial health disparities in children. For example, only 5 of 103 studies in the Institute of Medicine's extensive review any findings, studies, or literature address health disparities of racial or ethnic issues dealing with children (Flores, 2010). These disparities are and persistent, and happen across the many categories of health and health care. The objective of this study was to review as many off the published literatures on these racial and ethnic health disparities.

The health of a nation plays an integral part in the overall success and economic well being of a particular country. The United Stated, while pouring more money into the healthcare system than any other country, still stands as a broken system with inadequate care for many citizens. One of the most marginalized groups of people, African American women, continually score alarmingly low on basic measures of overall health. The healthcare discrepancies between white and black women in the United States are alarming, and they reveal flaws in the American health care system as a whole.

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.

Although most American citizens today associate racial and ethnic disparities in public health care quality with socioeconomic status, a majority of studies performed conclude that these discrepancies are still highly prevalent when the factor of one’s socioeconomic status is taken out of the equation. Health disparities for a certain minority result in a higher number of illness, injury, and even mortality for that race or ethnicity in comparison to white Americans; therefore, health care disparities can be defined as differences between groups in health coverage, specifically focusing on both the quality and access to care. The Office of Management and Budget has created two ethnic categories for all American citizens to fit into, being either

The disparities are around us every day and unless we educate ourselves and our communities these disparities will continue to wreak havoc on our neighborhoods and in the future, we will just be putting our kids and their kids in a continuing cycle of ignorance when we could have done more if it’s just educating the community we leave in, that alone could be enough to turn the tides in our people favor. In turn, I would hope this paper enlighten you on what is going on in our neighborhood and what we can do to correct this issue to preserve our autonomy. Racial and ethnic health disparities undermine what a healthcare system should stand for. Although the top three causes and seven of the 10 leading causes of death are the same for African Americans and whites, the risk factors and incidence, morbidity, and mortality rates for these diseases and injuries often are greater among blacks than whites (MMWR, 2005). Health disparities refer to differences in disease risks, incidence, morbidity, and mortality but most of all for the sake of this paper unequal access to quality health insurance amongst African American in the United States, which will also go hand and hand with the social and economic disadvantages. The disadvantages of health disparities usually affect people of African American descent who have systemically experienced a greater social and economic obstacle to health care.

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,

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.

Despite vast advancements in healthcare African-American men lack appropriate necessities when it comes to health care. Continuous efforts to bridge the gap among African American men with prostate cancer still remains high in the United States. Evidence shows how disproportionate this ethnic population leads in both incidence and mortality rate concerning social determinants of health, as well as health disparities. Major key factors that contribute to this health disparity among African Americans men are low socioeconomic status (SES) and being medically offered inadequate services. According to Richardson et al. (2004), "Prostate cancer (PCa) is most common and the second leading cause of cancer death among American men." However, prostate cancer incidence and mortality rates are higher in African-American men, as compared to other race. One of the main barriers hindering the care of this ethnic population is the lack of knowledge. As an Advanced Nurse Practitioners, it is crucial to identify areas in SDoH and health disparities that affect African American men health. False perceptions, misunderstanding and improper information must be replaced with factual information, and communicated accurately (Richardson et al. 2004).

Health disparities are often described as the injustices in health care. The term reflects different clinical outcomes between segments of the population: why certain populations have a higher rate of certain diseases or more deaths contrasted with others. (CDC, 2015, p.3)

Within the article, “Health Disparities and Health Equity: The Issue Is Justice” I found various important points presented. First, I thought the authors placed an emphasize on operationally defining definitions. The National Institutes of Health defines health disparities as “differences in the incidence, prevalence, mortality, and burden of diseases and other adverse health conditions that exist among specific population groups in the US”, these differences occur by “gender, race or ethnicity, education or income, disability, living in rural localities, or sexual orientation” (Healthy People, 2010). I found these definitions

While it remains unquestionable that the less substantial treatment of African-Americans in hospitals around the United States exists, there are a variety of different causes of these problems. Many studies document factors such as ethnicity, living situations, insurance status, annual income, access to care, sexual orientation, racial biases, and education levels as well as the socioeconomic status of citizens. However, while many of these factors are difficult to immediately change, race is one that can be recognized and altered to a further degree as well as with a significantly higher level of ease.

Focusing on health care in today’s society by taking into consideration cultural differences, socioeconomically, as well as, sociopolitical barriers to health, and how these differences influence the health of minority groups. Minority groups make up a large percentage of people living in America today, with the 2nd largest being made up of African American. Exploring further into the current health status, and how health promotion has defined this minority group, and what disparities exist can help carry out and improve the ability for these individuals to take action for their own health.

To many, health disparities amongst different races may appear like an extraneous matter. But, it has come to seriously affect the lives of African Americans. Williams (MMWR 2005, Williams 1995) noted that African Americans suffer a higher rate of health related issues. “Today, African Americans still bear a disproportionate burden in disease morbidity, mortality, disability, and injury” (MMWR 2005, Williams 1995). The shocking statement adds to the health issues they suffer: heart disease, diabetes, and obesity, which is a critical factor for African Americans. Additional findings from (Krieger, Rowley, Herman, Avery, & Phillips 1993) address how other factors such as: ones socioeconomic status (SES), race, and gender, concludes to the differences of health risks for individuals (Krieger, Rowley, Herman, Avery, & Phillips, 1993). The differences of a