In Breast Cancer, The Estrogen-Estrogen Receptor Complex

Prostate cancer being a huge cause of mortality and medical expense in men age forty and above has only recently become a topic of general conversation to men in America (Plowden, 2009). African-American men are affected by prostate cancer at a disproportional level than all other men. They are diagnosed up to 65% more frequently and the mortality rate is twice that of Caucasian counterparts (Emerson, 2009). The African-American male is also less likely to take advantage of free prostate cancer screening (Oliver, 2007).

In a perfect world, race, ethnicity and culture would have no negative effect on the medical care we receive, yet problems do arise and it affects the quality of care the patient receives. Language barrier, poor socioeconomic status, and poor health literacy also contribute to health care disparity. For Lia, it was more than her skin color, it was all of the above, her parents did not speak English and they were illiterate. They had trouble understanding the American healthcare system, had trouble or little interest in adjusting to or understanding the American culture. They didn’t work, which in addition to cross cultural misunderstanding, helped contribute to animosity between the Hmong and the host community, because some in the Merced area did not like or appreciate the fact that some Hmong did not work and relied on welfare to make ends meet. All these factors, contributed to the poor quality of

Healthcare diversities among healthcare professionals have been a challenge within the healthcare system. There are various publications that state that the underrepresented minorities have a higher chance of not graduating medical school, accruing high student loans, and ultimately were unsatisfied with their jobs (Pololi et al., 2013). This is not only disturbing, but this represents the individuals who are or will be servicing the public on a daily basis. As the population increases, racial differences increase, so to combat these disparities cultural competencies have to come into play within the health-professions workforce. For instance, although African Americans constitute to 13% of the population, in the physician workforce they only account for 4%, also women who are part of the workforce outweigh the amount of men by at least 4%, respectively (U.S. Census Bureau, 2014). Coincidentally, whites make up to 49% (both men and women) of the total U.S. MD active physicians based on the labor workforce statistics of 2013.

The purpose of this paper is to inform readers on the culturally competent strategies that ameliorate health disparities in this country. Over the years health issues have increase rapidly. There are different ethnic backgrounds shows that their health plays a big role culturally and also diversity.

As a future healthcare professional, developing cultural competence is necessary in order to be effective in the task of creating a safe environment for our patients where they can tell their story and receive the care they need. Health disparities are characterized by differences in the incidence, prevalence, mortality, and disease burden to specific populations groups in the United States (Raingruber, 204). These health disparities may be contributable to a number of factors such as age, gender, educational attainment, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, and a myriad of other factors (Raingruber, 2014). In order to meet the challenge of reducing health disparities and improving the overall health care system, nurses must make efforts to engage and understand their patients from the frame of reference of their patient’s culture (Raingruber, 2014).

Haynes (2016) article, The Road to Cultural Competency Are We There yet? Stated that the key to decreasing health disparities in the workforce could be done by increasing diversity. Health disparities as indicated by Turk (2014), Issue: Nursing Workforce, can result in a more complicated societal problem. It was further stated, health disparities have received much attention and is currently identified as a priority issue in our nation. According to Haynes (2016), strategies which were recommended by the Sullivan Commission were done to increase the workforces of nursing should begin with education. Cultural competency as stated here should be a vital component of the nursing curriculum. Turk (2014) reported health disparities result in a more multifaceted societal burden. According to Turk (2014), decreasing health disparities has received significant attention. Individuals, including policymakers, academicians, and researchers are concerned about the diversification of the healthcare workforce of which strategies are being implemented by decreasing health disparities and increasing the availability of culturally competent among health care providers.

The text list several factors that contribute to healthcare disparities, social, economic status, access to medical care, lack of insurance, unemployment, lack of knowledge of healthcare processes and procedures within society, transportation issues and many other factors that contribute to healthcare disparities. Being knowledgeable of cultural competency has several advantages, cultural competence provides relief to the patient when the patient feels comfortable with their physician a bond is developed and patients are less likely to file malpractice claims. Displaying cultural competency increases the quality of services and patient satisfaction.

Miscommunication, medication errors, and lack of compliance commonly occur in the healthcare field. These are just a few of the errors that occur due to the patient being from a different culture than the physician or healthcare worker. Those three errors alone have a huge impact on our healthcare today. If we could have a better understanding of other cultures that are different from our own we could have a dramatic decrease in errors and a great increase in healthcare participation. Training must be completed and must be done in more than one way. The first step is to make sure that all physicians and health care workers get the same nationwide training that focuses on improving cultural competence. How this is completed must be done in more than one way (Horwitz, 2001).

Nature and scope of the project: Despite the advances in medical technology, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women and is the second cause of mortality in African-American and Caucasian women in the United States. Mammography has shown to be one of the best method to reduce late detection of breast cancer. The American Cancer Society recommends monthly self-breast examination (SBE), clinical breast examination every three years and mammography starting at age of 40. Despite the recommendations, there is a disparity among different racial groups. The breast cancer screening rates are higher in certain subgroups, including low-income African-Americans and Hispanic

Núñez (2000) states that culture molds the beliefs and behaviors of individuals and influences what they deem suitable (p. 1072). These preconceived beliefs, or biases, can have a negative effect when applied in healthcare situations. Studies show that biased care by healthcare professionals is directly associated with health inequity (Nazione, 2015, p. 954). It is estimated that the economy spends $300 billion annually due to health inequity and health disparities (Wong, Laveist, & Sharfstein, 2015, p. 1417). It is our responsibility as advanced practice nurses that we advocate for our patients to improve their outcomes and implement interventions to help others reduce bias as well.

In this article, the experience of a medical doctor is used to shed light on the subject of racial bias/ discrimination in health care and how it is affecting health outcome of racial and ethnic minority. “Race or ethnic group is a major social factor that influences health in the U.S Braveman 387. Health inequity is at the center stage of public health discussion. Understanding the upstream factors that causes inequities and disparities can help to bridge the gap of inequality. Eliminating health disparity will protect and improve the health of racial and ethnic minority population, which is consistent with the principle of public health-improving and protecting health of populations.

Racial and ethnic disparities can be a touchy subject when talking among many circle of people, even so with some Caucasian sub-group.US Census reported that 1 in 4 Americans are of a race other than white; 1 in 3 children are African American, Hispanic, or Asian; and 1 in 10 people are of foreign-born. When majority dictated make all decisions and the minorities does not have any power. This cultural diversity can have inferences with our health care. Ethnic culture affects our beliefs, health, illness, and medications, as well as how we interact with our healthcare providers, and even how we comply with our prescribed medications, as well as mental health status (Cultural diversity and Medication Safety , 2003).

Cultural competency training has been identified as an effective method to reduce racial disparities in medical care for minority groups (Institute of Medicine, 2002). Several states have proposed and, in some instances, passed legislation regarding cultural competency training for healthcare professionals (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, n.d.). New Jersey was the first state to successfully enact legislation in 2005, requiring medical colleges

In order to fully grasp an understanding of the importance of cultural competency in healthcare, it is vital to be aware of the demographic shifts in the United States alone, as it is rapidly growing and increasingly becoming more diverse. In 2006, about one in three Americans was a minority (U.S. Census Bureau, 2007) and Hispanics have surpassed African Americans as the largest minority group, comprising 15% of the population. The demographic shifts are changing so rapidly that the U.S. Census Bureau predicts that by 2042, no single ethnic group will comprise the majority percentage of the population. In turn, this would make more than half of Americans a member of a minority group. With these changing demographics, every healthcare worker will care for culturally diverse clients and need to know how to provide culturally relevant care.

Estrogen treatment: Estrogen-related drugs are sometimes used in hormonal therapy of men with prostate cancer. This treatment may cause a slight increase in breast cancer risk. However, this risk is small compared with the benefits of this treatment in slowing the growth of prostate cancer. Men taking high doses of