Improving Health From An Early Age

Healthy People 2020 discusses a number of special population’s that have barriers to care including; race, age sex, sexual identity, age, disability, socioeconomic, and location; this post will discuss race (ethnic) group.  There are a number of races mentioned in healthy people 2020, such as, Asian, American Indian, Alaskan, Latino and African American (Healthy People 2020, n.d.). Access to health care in an ethnic group is multifaceted from the lack of trust, lack of health care education, discrimination and cost of care including health insurance. According to Howard, Peace, & Howard (2014), African Americans have a greater risk of three preventable diseases, hypertension, renal failure and bacterial infections stating; “no other disease

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “health disparities are preventable differences in the burden of disease, injury, violence, or in opportunities to achieve optimal health experienced by socially disadvantaged racial, ethnic, and other population groups, and communities” (CDC, 2017).  It  is easy to believe that control on overall health relies solely on making  a firm decision (the “right” decision" to lead a healthy lifestyle— by being active and eating a balanced-diet. There are other factors to be considered in evaluating and understanding health disparities: why people seem to be noncompliant? Or why people aren’t seeking medical attention in a timely manner?  In reading

With this increased research and effort, Americans would be able to intervene and make positive impacts with the state, tribal, and local levels to best address health disparities and inequalities. In efforts to thwart ethnic and minority disparities, The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) passed the HHS Disparities Action Plan in order to establish “a nation free of disparities in health and health care, (Cooper 97)” and to implement a series of priorities, strategies, actions, and goals to achieve this vision. States, local communities, private organizations, and providers have additionally engaged in efforts to reduce health disparities. With the HHS Disparities Action Plan, the Department continuously assess policies and programs on racial and ethnic health disparities, watching to see which policies make an impact on the level of health care received by minorities. Similarly, The Affordable Care Act (ACA) health coverage expansions significantly increase coverage options for low and moderate income populations and particularly benefit the “vulnerable populations.” The ACA also includes provisions to strengthen the safety-net delivery system, improve

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.

“Poverty goes up; Crime goes down; Prison population doubles. It doesn 't fit, unless some sort of alternative explanation comes into play. Maybe all those new nonviolent prisoners fit into some new national policy imperative. Maybe they all broke some new set of unwritten societal rules. But what?” – Matt Taibbi

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 California Youth Authority which is now known as the California Division of Juvenile Justice has gone through years of criticism. This institution is part of the division of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation that offers several programs such as education, training, and treatment for California’s most serious youth offenders. The California Youth Authority became the go to alternative for the increasing rate of juvenile offenders that committed the most heinous crimes. This institution first opened in 1943 as a reform school, and today it functions similar to adult state prisons. Since that time over thousands of inmates were incarcerated inside of the California Youth Authority. In March of 2000, proposition

During the 1970’s, the tough on crime movement contributed to a drastic increase in punishment for lesser crimes and led a massive increase in imprisonment, even though the crime rates stayed the same (Gascon 2014). It is disputed that even though the movement was attractive to voters, it is doing more harm than good. Ever since the 1960’s, the amount of individuals detained has increased roughly about ten times than normal (Gascon 2014). Expanding a prison population requires more places, such as prisons and jails, to detain prisoners and California had built “22 new prisons in just 30 years” (Gascon 2014). Building new prisons and detaining more prisoner’s costs money and this money will come out of taxpayers. Newt Gingrich and B. Wayne Hughes Jr. said in an editorial that “prison is for people that we are afraid of, but we have been filling them with many folks we are just mad at.” They also state if the proposition is passed it will bring some light on the face that over $60,000 is spent on one inmate alone per year, while less than $10,000 is spent on each student in schools (Gingrich and Hughes 2014). The American Civil Liberties Union, the Sentencing Project, and the Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice are also in favor of the proposition. Some of these groups agree with Gingrich and Hughes statements, the money

African Americans are twice as likely to die of an illness such as cancer and heart disease as well as, less likely to have health access compared to any other race. African Americans are yet subject to racial discrimination and stereotypes in the health care, that leads them without the correct health screenings and treatments. The root of these racial disparities connects with the intersectionality of race, class, gender and education.

This notion of social justice views “assurance of the essential condition” for the well-being of humans as the means of government (Gostin, 535). As well it dissuades the idea that individuals are or should pursue their own self interest, but moreso furthers the approach of redistributing “social and economic goods” equal to everyone (Gostin, 535). This connects to the right to health. The right to health is an inclusive right, contains individual freedoms, contains entitlements, the attainability of goods without any discrimination and that these goods are available, accessible, acceptable and of substantial quality (The Right to Health, 7). This being addressed by recognizing the health disparities that inhibit from the right to health and finding the means or solutions to overcome them. The African American Health coalition has dedicated their time and resources to ensure that individuals within their target population are receiving and being provided adequate care and their right to health is not compromised by health disparities. The specific issues that they are currently directing their efforts into are brownfields, lead paint, limited healthy food choices, violence and criminal activity, lower socioeconomic status, low education levels, high population turnover, unhealthy lifestyle choices, and poverty (Common Ground Health). These factors are the core issues of social

While there is no clear definition of what health disparities are, Healthy People 2020 defines them as “differences that occur by gender, race or ethnicity, education or income, disability, geographic location, or sexual orientation” (Adler, 2008). Health disparities are not determined by solely biological differences, but rather more attributed to the environment surrounding a person. The public health industry is so concerned about racial health disparities that stem from the social environment

It is probably the worst kept secret in the United States that minorities living in low income areas have the worst access to health care in the developed nation. Oftentimes they have to choose between going to the doctor to get treatment that could potentially save their lives or risk putting their families in millions of dollars’ worth of debt. Crooked CEOS jack up the prices of insulin, EpiPen’s, and a host of other lifesaving medications just to make an extra dollar. Research on Black Americans is typically underfunded, not to mention the underlying mistrust that people of color in low income communities can occasionally exhibit to doctors, police officers, etc. It is hard to trust someone in a position of authority when historically they have oppressed and hurt your people. The Tuskegee Syphilis Study, a study where black men were used as laboratory experiments to examine the effects of syphilis, is proof enough. Therefore, I propose a 3-step plan to help people livening in these situations.

The United States prison system is having a terrible time. In 2000 the US inmate population reached a record of two million. which means that 1 person in 140 in the United States was imprisoned. Over the last quarter of the 20th century, the number of inmates tripled, and the United States locked up mor people per capita than almost any other country, almost tying up with Russia for this dubious distinction. Incarceration rates are six times those of Briton and 17 time those of Japan. The rising numbers have made prisons a growth industry, California builds a new prison every year to keep up with the demand. The burden of imprisonment falls disproportionately on racial minorities. In California for example, a young black man is 5 times as likely

One issue with underserved populations is an increase in health disparities, not only race and ethnicity, but also gender and age. The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (2014) list a number of key findings from a report on underserved populations and health care. Mortality rates from certain diseases and different types of death were higher in different racial groups than Caucasians (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014). Morbidity of asthma, oral disease, tuberculosis, obesity, and diabetes were also higher in minority groups (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014). Preventive screening for the over-50 population was just over 60%

Today, in America, some prisoners are living worse than some third world countries are for little crimes such as thief. Overcrowded prisons can literally be defined as placing more prisoners in a prison facility than the prison was built to maintain. Every prison has a recommended capacity for which they are to hold prisoners, since there is such an increase in offenders going to prison, these capacities are being ignored and the population of these prisons are significantly increased, making them overcrowded. Too many prisoners and not enough room. This country needs to spend more money to build new prisons. New prisons cost too much to build. There are more prisoners than the guards can control safely. Because of overcrowding some state prisons are sends their inmates down to local prisons. Some prison inmates are sleeping in hallways, storage rooms and even lavatories. Due to overcrowding some prisons are producing conditions so unhealthy it is against the constitution. Because the new prisons won’t be built for a while some prisons are doing the only thing they can, freeing inmates early. Another reason for overcrowding is that more people are going to jail for smaller, less offensive crimes. Because the number of people in prison, the educational programs are limited. Before the inmate was placed near his or her program but now they are placed where ever there is a bed. Some prisons are placing inmate wherever there can. Some prisoners need special education that is not