Healthy People 2020

According to “Healthy People 2020”, n.d. exclusively breast feeding infants for at least 3- 6 months significantly impacts their health outcomes and has long terms health benefits. Ultimately, the goal is to encourage nursing mothers to breastfeed for 1 year (“Maternal Infant and Child,” n.d.). Despite this knowledge women continue to face challenges in regard to public or employer accommodation to assist nursing mothers.

I spent the past week reviewing all the data I have collected to this point. The data and health needs reported in Healthy People 2020, as well as the epidemiological and community data I collected, convey consistent themes. The HP 2020 topics of injury and violence prevention, hearing and communication disorders, oral health and access to health services all appear to be topics of concern and are identified health needs of the community I am targeting. With epidemiological data showing the rates of autism climbing at steady levels, the need for an increase awareness and planned interventions involving these health topics will be essential to meet the objectives established by the federal government.

Communication is essential in every aspect of life. Open and strategic communication plans are crucial for the efficient performance of health organizations. End users need health information to make informed decisions. With the advancement of technology such as access to the Internet, it is convenient for patients to access health care services and products (Publishing, 2013). Health care services are importance to the community.

Infant mortality rate constitutes the death of a baby before their first birthday. Mortality rates around the world differ tremendously with America leading the first world countries at an alarming rate of 6.1 deaths per 1,000 births. Conversely, Finland and Japan secure the last, most desirable position, with deaths totaling 2.3 per 1,000 births, as of 2010. (Ovaska-Few, 2015) In 2014, over 23,000 babies died in the United States. (CDC, 2016) Exploring the mortality rates in America brings light to a dire need for additional interventions and research as to why this developing nation has the highest rate of infant deaths before the age of 1 year old. African Americans face the worst outcomes of infant death compared to whites, Latino, and their Native American peers in North Carolina. (Ovaska-Few, 2015) This paper will explore why African American are the leading race for infant mortality and the steps that health communities need to take to address this devastating occurrence.

United States is the largest and most diverse society on the globe. It spends almost 2 trillion dollars every year on health care, which is one in every seven dollars in the economy. U.S is one of the very few nations where all its citizens do not have medical coverage. Although it spends heavily on per capita on health care, and it has the most advanced medical technology system in the world, still it is not the healthiest nation on earth. The system performs so poorly that it leaves 50 million without health coverage and millions more inadequately covered (Garson, 2010).

“Compared with European Americans, African American infants experience disproportionately high rates of low birth weight (LBW) and preterm delivery and are more than twice as likely to die during their 1st year of life”(Giscombé, C. L., & Lobel, M., 2005). The infant mortality rate for African Americans is 13.7 deaths per 1000 live births, more than twice the rate (5.7) for White Americans in the U.S. (Kung, Hoyert, Xu, & Murphy, 2008). A lot of the racial disparity in infant mortality can be explained by low birthweight and preterm delivery, which are also disproportionately and often experienced by African Americans (Martin et al., 2007).

According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), health care spending in the United States has grown at a rate of 3.7 percent since 2012 to $2.8 trillion, costing the U.S. 17.9 percent of total its GDP and ranking it number one spending on health care (Martin et al 67; world bank). Despite having the most expensive healthcare per capita, according to The Commonwealth Fund - a private American foundation dedicated to the promotion of a high performance healthcare system - the U.S. ranks at the bottom of the top ten wealthiest nations in terms of “access, efficiency, and equity” (Davis

In the United States, the process of childbirth is far more dangerous for African American women than it is for White women. For African American women, the path to a healthy birth is riddled with barriers. There are many health disparities between the two races. African American women face much higher low-birth and infant mortality rates; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has published that although infant mortality rates in the U.S. have dropped by over 10% in the past ten years, a large gap continues to exist between the health of the races during the entire childbirth process. (World Health Organization, 2010) In the United States, Black infants are more than twice as likely to die within the first year of life as a White infant, and this disparity has not seen advancements in the last century. Many of these deaths can be attributed to low birth weight, and preterm birth among black infants.

In 2010, Healthy People 2020 was started by the Department of Human Health Services. Health programs and research topics were instituted to help Americans live healthier and longer lives (CDC, 2014). The 42 topics presented are all very important in maintaining the goals set by Healthy People 2020. If these programs were to be cut or budget restraints imposed on them, the impact would be felt by all Americans. There would be more unhealthy people, preventable chronic diseases would be more prevalent, and education and health associated programs would be

The journal written by Christopher and Simpson (2014) addresses the outcomes birth disparities between African American and White population. Although infant mortality rates declined 12 percent in the US from 2005 to 2011, which represents 6.05 infant deaths per 1000 live births, African American still have the highest rate on infant mortality in the nation. The infant mortality rate for this population in this period of time was 12.4 infant deaths per 1000 live births. According to the article, African American babies die before the first birthday twice the rate comparing to White babies.

Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) also known as infant death rate, is the death of an infant before his or her first birthday. Infant mortality is calculated, by the number of children who die under a year of age divided by the number of live births that year. Infant mortality rate is very important as it relates to the health of pregnant women, children and infants and it’s associated with maternal health, quality and access to medical care, socioeconomic conditions, and public health practices. The most important purpose of this review is to examine and understand why African American infants are disproportionately affected and the factors(Low birth weight, preterm birth weight and very low birth weight and infant mortality)

The goals of 2020 Healthy People would be to promote individual health. By reducing chronic diseases. Along with the risks through the consumption of nutritious diets. Along with achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight. The overview of the goals state that it wants to see effort and changes in diets and weights. Along with addressing individual’s behaviors. Thus, these would affect schools, worksites healthcare organizations and the overall communities.

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).

Infant mortality has long been considered to be an important indicator of a nation’s health, and while it has fallen dramatically over the past five decades, there are still striking differences along socioeconomic, geographic, and racial lines. “In 2009, the infant mortality rate was 12.4 infant deaths per 1,000 live births among blacks, compared to 5.3 among whites.” Equally large and persistent differences by race are found for other birth outcomes – including stillbirths, preterm births, and low birth weight – and many of these contribute to the racial gap in infant mortality. Solutions to the problem of higher infant death rates among black families have eluded medical, health policy, and research communities for decades. African American women continue to face a disproportionately higher risk for delivering premature and low birthweight babies, many of whom die within their first year of life.

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.