Health Disparities and the Disproportionality of Access to Care for African Americans 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. Purpose of the Study The purpose of this research is to identify and measure the most common health disparities that cause African-Americans poor health outcomes, assesses the solutions, and provides alternative suggestions in order to reduce or eliminate the main health disparities. Racial discrimination Racial classification has a possibility to expose an individual to racism and health disparities by influencing access to care, scope and quality of care, and overall health outcomes. In the United States of America, the secret codes of socioeconomic status are deeply spotted by race, causing the racial differences in socioeconomic status and becomes the main element to racial differences in health and health care (Kennedy, 2013). Many studies have indicated that African-Americans distrust medical practices and medical professionals due to a long history tied to the unethical treatment
This paper discusses some of this areas in more details as wells as areas that need a deeper look. Health care workers for example, health care practice, residency of minorities and opposing views. These concerns are known as health disparities, which refer to differences in health status of different groups of people. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether perceived discrimination in the health care system based on race is correlated with delays in pharmacy prescriptions or delays in medical tests or treatments.
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
Since the publication of the Institute of Medicine’s “Unequal Treatment Report” in 2002, highlighting the startling but harsh truths behind these health care differences, there has been a renewed interest in understanding the sources of these inconsistencies, with any seeking to identify contributing factors in hopes of creating an effective solution in reducing or eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care
In 1964 Congress passed the Civil Rights Act in which Title VI specifically forbade the distribution of federal funds to organizations that practiced discrimination. Enforcement of Title VI was a major priority within the Johnson administration as they implemented the Medicare program (Reynolds, 1997). Despite a mandate of equal treatment, significant patterns of segregated health care utilization have remained to the present. In an analysis of Medicare beneficiaries, Bach and colleagues found that their was a small proportion of physicians – 22% - who provided the majority of visits - 80% - by black patients (Bach, Pham, Schrag, Tate, & Hargraves, 2004). This may represent a pattern of racial concordance, patients choosing providers of their own race, but the physicians seeing the majority of black patients did not the same resources available as those seeing the majority of white patients. Compared with physicians seeing the mostly white patients, physicians seeing mostly black patients were 33% less likely to report always having access to high quality specialists, and 40% less likely to report always having access to high quality diagnostic imaging. In short, black patients are using a different health system than white patients on average and the health system black patients are using has fewer resources (Bach, et al., 2004).
In today’s society, there are many different factors that can contribute to one’s overall health and well-being. Since there are so many different factors that can affect one’s health, there are inequalities that exist among people and this is knows as health disparity. "Health disparities are differences in the incidence, prevalence, mortality, and burden of diseases and other adverse health conditions that exist among specific population groups in the United States” (Nhlbi.nih.gov, 2015). Health disparities can be associated with factors such as: socioeconomic status, education, gender, race, ethnicity, age, mental health, and religion. There are certain health problems that can affect different groups more than others, such as diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and HIV/AIDS (Surgeongeneral.gov, 2015). One example of a specific population in the United States that is affected by health disparities is the African American Population. While African Americans are affected by various health disparities, one that affects this population more prominently is heart disease.
Health Care reform is a major topic of discussion in today’s society, especially with the relatively novel release of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) by the Obama administration. Historically, the health care system has disproportionally favored those of higher class and income, resulting in diminished health care for those that could not afford it. The Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) 2002 report, Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care, states that a lack of insurance substantially contributes to the proliferation of healthcare disparities. Furthermore, racial and ethnic minorities are most subject to these healthcare disparities because they are significantly more likely to be uninsured. (1) The history of health care reform in the United States, as it pertains to under-insured urban populations, will be discussed, with a specific emphasis on its impact on African-Americans; in addition, the modern resolutions to healthcare disparities will be assessed.
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.
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.
The United States’ whole social structure and system of relations developed based on race, and this prejudice has stuck around to this day, specifically in the U.S.’s healthcare system. It has been found that minority groups often receive less and lower quality treatments than those who are white. On a national scale, ethnic health disparities have become more of a priority in recent decades. Specifically since The Office of Minority Health was established in 1986, and more recently, since “Healthy People”, a popular magazine, named the elimination of these disparities as one of its national goals to accomplish by 2010 (Yang). This paper will explore some of the possible solutions to this extreme gap in health.
Why is it that in the world most advanced country, health disparities are so prevalent among ethnic minorities, especially African-Americans? Why is this issue so resilient despite countless efforts to bring it under control? Health disparities among socially disadvantaged populations are no laughing matter, and the African-American population of Clayton County, Georgia are no exception. They are at greater risk of developing diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, or have higher rates of infant mortality compared to whites. Since the advent of the “Healthy People” initiative some two decades ago, it has centered its goals on disparities in the United States and establishing efforts for reducing it among all Americans.1 Therefore, this article will look at a few significant researches done on the topic of health disparities, especially in the area of infant mortality, and how other researchers have addresses it; also, along with its strengths and limitations.
In the video from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health allowed us to see the disparity in health care access among social and ethnic groups. Social statuses played a significant role in the population’s health condition and mortality. Populations with higher statuses and income are able to afford a better life due to the fact that they have the money to obtain health insurance that allows them access to specialized care that improves their health outcomes and decreases their mortality. However, regardless of social economic status, a persons ethnic background and skin color plays a critical role in the prognosis and outcomes of their health issues due to the fact that people of color are discriminated and have minimal
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.
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
According to the Census Bureau, approximately 49 million Americans didn’t have coverage in 2011. The Patient Protection Affordable Care Act has only been extended to cover 32 million uninsured individuals mandates. The main issue of access to affordable care will be to exacerbated by the limited community- based resources that provide preventive services, primary care access and the continuum care for patients with chronic conditions ("Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the U.S.: 2014", 2015). There is a need to increase capacity to serve more patients while improving outcomes and reducing cost. Health disparities in the U.S. range from HIV/ Aids to obesity. The minority population typically has a disproportional burden of the HIV/ Aids epidemic ( Wetle & Scanlan 2013). Disparities in health care are among the lines of access to care, treatment, preventive measures, and medicine. Within this research project were used to examine how one 's race, neighborhood, or social classes affect their quality of care, and health outcomes ( Wetle & Scanlan , 2013). It was found that people who lived in lower-income urban areas were found to have a lower quality of care. The study also found that these people were also prescribed stronger more dangerous medicine, and also paid higher co- pays. The Affordable Care Act was created to target, and eliminate health disparities (Adepoju , Gonzales , and Preston 2015). The ACA
“Social justice is a matter of life and death” (WHO, 2008). This was a statement made by the World Health Organization (WHO) in their Commission on the Social Determinants of Health. This statement illustrates the impact that power, privilege, and oppression can have on an individual’s life, and ultimately their health. Health inequity is largely rooted in ageism, classism, sexism, homophobia and racism, this inequity is apparent in the differential outcomes seen across the respective demographics (McGibbon, 2012). Racial health inequity is a systemic and persistent issue in the United States of America; and the disparity in outcome, access and quality of healthcare afforded to White and non-White patients is significant. In America, people of color: have higher rates of non-genetic illnesses, are less likely to have health insurance or a usual source of health care, and show greater mortality rates from cancers that are controllable with early diagnosis and treatment (Russell, 2010). In this essay, I will claim that racial oppression in healthcare and the general society create and perpetuate racial health inequity; whilst also acknowledging the role that intersectionality plays in this issue. Furthermore, I will use tools of philosophy and social psychology to present ways to reduce the disparity in healthcare - focusing on the implicit biases of healthcare providers and stereotype threat experienced by minority patients.