Health Disparities Video Analysis

Racism imposes additional health issues on people of color because it is an unnecessary stressor in their every day lives. “African Americans die earlier and have higher rates than whites of many chronic diseases across the social gradient” (Unnatural Causes, 2008). Increased cortisol levels, which are caused by stress have been linked to high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, and other health problems.

From this film, the key points that were mentioned about how socioeconomic backgrounds and race impact one’s health is something that is not as emphasized as it should be in the public eye. Especially how health and wealth are intertwined with each other is particularly frustrating since health should be a human right and people should receive the health they need regardless of their economic

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.

Socioeconomic factors include “poverty, marginal employment, low incomes, segregated living conditions, and inadequate education” (Cockerham, 2015). These factors are more common among blacks than whites and are known to cause poor health. Studies have shown that black women are more prone to be exposed to psychosocial stress from poverty and low-paying jobs, which plays an important role in triggering labor in pregnant women. With the elevated buildup of stress hormones, it can cause the body to trigger early labor and other pregnancy problems. Leading to higher rates of infant

After a great deal of research and strong evidence to support such claims, I have come to the conclusion that the cause of the black and white infant mortality gap can be attributed to the near two-fold increased rates of low birth weight and preterm births, and the near three-fold increased rates of very low birth weight and very preterm births among black infants. However, the cause of the racial disparities between such birth outcome rates remains largely unexplained. Most studies focus on differential exposures to risk, such as high teen pregnancy rates, single motherhood, lower education levels, poverty, and even genetic causes, but these factors do not adequately account for the racial disparities in birth outcomes. Based off of the studies previously mentioned, the lack of prenatal support, social support, and high allostatic load appear to be some of the main factors that contribute to accounting for the black and white infant mortality gap. As a result, researches have recently proposed an alternative approach to examining racial-ethnic disparities in birth outcomes using a “life course perspective”. A life course perspective, as defined by scientist Michael Lu, is known to “conceptualize birth outcomes as the end product of not only the nine months of pregnancy but the entire life course of the mother before the pregnancy.”

It was very astonishing to see in the video of Unnatural Causes it resonated to that inequality and racism are not just abstract concepts but in actuality it hospitalized and cause infant mortality even more than cigarettes. According to the video inequality, racism, poverty, and economic deprivation are adversely affecting the health of African Americans. Our nation has a choice: We can address the racial and economic equalities that lead us down the path to this disease now. Or we can pay to repair the bodies later. Unnatural Causes explores a

healthcare system (Elchoufani, 2018). Attaining a good health is the ultimate goal for all people and the overall population, so it is important that people study the interactions between race, gender, and socioeconomic status in this matter (ASPPH, n.d.). People in communities with lower socioeconomic status typically encounter fewer options for healthy food and a lack of health education as well as health care. All in all, studying minority health allows us to find methods in making health care more accessible for under-resourced populations, along with determining methods out services and resources can be dispersed to the populations which are more prone to certain illnesses (ASPPH, n.d.). The studying which results in better methods all benefit towards guiding the U.S. population to overall health

Epidemiology is the study of the relationships between disease and causation in human populations. It utilizes research and scientific methods to identify risk factors and approaches to decrease disease risk and to promote healthy habits. Community health nurses use this science to assess, diagnose, plan, and evaluate health improvement initiatives (Nies & McEwen, 2015-a). Ecosocial epidemiology is a newer, more complex approach as it focuses on the role of social, environmental, political and economic factors along with biological processes to understand health and illness (Nies & McEwan, 2015-b). In this post, I will discuss the rate of infant mortality among the African-American population in Franklin County and apply the ecosocial

Within the contemporary generation today, many fundamental factors such as social, environmental, biological and epigenetics play significant roles towards understanding the connection between humans and their health. For example, race-based health disparities can be witnessed within society especially considering different health related diseases such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, stroke etc (Kuzawa and Sweet 2). Furthermore, prior to reading the article, Epigenetics and the Embodiment of Race: Developmental Origins of US Racial Disparities in Cardiovascular Health I was quite unfamiliar with the concept of health disparity within the racial norm of the society. For instance, an African American man in Harlem is less likely than

One of the most persisting health disparities is the birth outcomes between African Americans and White Americans. A significant portion in infant mortality is the increase of low birth weight, and preterm birth among black infants. The socially and economically disadvantaged population affects the maternal and child health outcomes. “The life course perspective “is the women’s life -course experiences that links to the maternal health and pregnancy outcome. It is used to understand how transitions and trajectories factors impact one’s life. The cumulative pathway mechanism how stress, exposures to the physical and the social environment in different life stages that accumulates over time affect health and causes dysfunction. Racial

From watching “Unnatural Causes (When the bough breaks)”, I learned many interesting facts. This film definitely related to Film #1 because I learned more about what stress can cause. In this film, it spoke about why African American women are giving birth to babies who have low birth weight, premature, which leads to a higher percentage of infant mortality. This rate is very high compared to White American women, who are giving birth to healthy infants. Researchers hypothesized that the reason for this is because of racism/discrimination, lack of education, and problems from the past. The outcomes of these problems lead to stress. I remember in the first film, it was mentioned that stress can lead to a shorter life. I wasn’t surprised when this film mentioned that it also leads to premature and low birth weight babies. It made me feel very emotional.

As stated within the assigned video, Wisconsin has made the health care of diverse groups a top priority, which has resulted in a decrease in the health issues that are more prominent in minorities, specifically African Americans. Placing focus more so on younger patients decreases these health issues even more. Having an array of health care professionals who focus on different aspects of health treating an array of divers groups throughout the U.S., only raises awareness of the hypothesis and theories that focus on the causes of such an increased rate of health issues in minorities. One speaker in the video, (a Latina woman), mentioned the fact that many statistics that focus on even more than just health, primarily focus on the two races of black and white. With America being the melting pot of the world, the increase of mixed racial children only calls for a greater need of medical science advancements to pinpoint where these health issues are stemming from within these diverse races. There is also a greater need to place more emphasis on races, other than black and white. Eliminating the fact that many health care professionals are primarily treating a specific race will not only diversify their

In the United States alone, the mortality rate among black infants is more than double the number of white infants in targeted urban areas in New York City ("Racism-induced stress linked with high black infant mortality rates," 2017). These numbers are continuing to increase as more and more evidence suggests that some of the significant causes are stress and anxiety amongst black mother’s due to racial discrimination and social factors. Researchers have sought out other possible explanations for why the black infant mortality rate is so high – such as drinking, obesity, poor eating habits, smoking, or access to prenatal care. However, none of the factors examined, combined or separate, were found to be substantial enough to fully account for

The focus of the video is racism, and though it is mentioned at one point, it does not take into consideration the stressor of this individual’s job. Per the CDC, scientists recognize five determinants of health – genes and biology, health behaviors, social environment and characteristics, physical environment or total ecology, and lastly health services or medical care. When analyzing poor health outcomes, all five areas need to

The three videos showcasing the three winners of the Robert Wood Johnson Culture of Health Prize for healthy communities all impressed me by how the people in those communities were able to work together to achieve a common goal: better health and lifestyle for the community. Moreover, they were able to do so while facing difficult challenges and obstacles in different forms.