Minority Health Profession: A Case Study

Cultural diversity in the health care setting is increasing each year. Knowing how to care for patients of different religious and spiritual faiths is essential to providing high-quality, patient-centered care. The author of this paper will research three lesser-known religions; Taoism, Sikhism and Shamanism. Through this paper, she will provide a brief background on each of the three religions and present information regarding spiritual perspectives on healing, critical components of healing and health care considerations associated with each religion.

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

Health care providers and the medical community at large adhere to the negative racial and gender stereotypes and perceptions associated with Black women. The salience of stereotypical perceptions of Black women, such as that they are unintelligent, low income, or unworthy of treatment or respect (Burgess, Warren, Phelan, Dovidio, & Ryn, 2010), in health care settings, has been linked to apprehension of receiving and actually receiving biased treatment by health care professionals (Melfi, Croghan, Hanna, & Robinson, 2000; Sclar, Robison, Skaer, & Galin, 1999). Stereotype threat, which is the fear a person has of confirming the negative stereotypes associated with a group he or she identifies with or in an area in which the individual excels

population. They only make up 4% of physicians; of these 4% only 2% percent are female. With regards to this, diversity in the medical profession is important. As an aspiring future African-American female physician, I will have an opportunity to directly impact minority communities and empathize with my patients. I would like to become a physician to improve healthcare in my hometown of Birmingham, Alabama. The poverty rate in Birmingham a predominately African-American city is 30.9%. The average household income in the city is less than $32,000, as a consequence of low income levels; the rate of health disparities is greatly

A reformation of the achievement levels of African-Americans starts through the investment of high achieving mentors, families, and friends. It begins with African-Americans straying away from statistical choices, such as placing improper value on education, community involvement, and health. The overcoming of such adversities involved with being an African-American woman has propelled my career goals. By striving to become a pharmacist and non-profit leader I am showing that the accomplishments of African-American women in health and leadership are not abnormal. One of the major causes of minority health disparities is the lack of minority health providers. As a healthcare provider, I will be better able to promote wellness in minority populations.

Today, racial and ethnic disparities exist in the public healthcare system in the United States. It is strongly supported by data that depicts members of the minority groups receive disproportionately from different health issues such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and asthma, among other conditions. The main contributors to the racial and ethnic disparities in the public healthcare are the social determinants of the health external to the healthcare delivery system. In addition, social and economic status also affect people’s vulnerability to the disease and their accessibility to public health services. The article provides historical analysis that shows a deteriorating status in the

Racial segregated healthcare is not new in America it can be traced back to beginning of slavery. “The emergence of theories such as polygenism, and movement such as anthropometry, phrenology, and craniometry in the early 1800’s as early as the Jim Crow laws enacted between 1876 and 1965 only helped to reinforce these disparities.” (Source 3) Also between 1876 and 1965 laws are created equal facilities for minority’s black and white creating it prohibited for minority physicians to follow or receive education in white facilities. (Source 3) In 2011 reports on healthcare quality and disparities, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) finds that low-income individuals and people of color experience more barriers to care and receive poor quality care. (Source

It is no coincidence that it is called poor health. What I mean is that the people who have it hardest in this country, those with the lowest incomes, have the worst health. It could just as easily be called minority health, rather than poor health, because the majority of the people living in poverty are racial or ethnic minorities. Many racial minorities in the US suffer from poor health, but not because they have worse genetics, rather from worse educational opportunities. This is a problem of all those in poverty, but since a disproportionate amount of those in poverty are minorities; I am focusing my paper on how to alleviate the educational disparities within the minority population. Studies have shown that education is the ticket

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.

In science and medicine, advancement and achievement occurs everyday. Unfortunately, this same progressive profession can be a microcosm for the discrimination that happens worldwide daily, and sometimes seems to be exacerbating alongside discoveries in health. It is undeniable, however disappointing, that health disparities exist. Because of biases and adversities based on an endless list of aspects including, but not limited to, location, race, gender, disability, and socioeconomic status, health disparities are extremely harmful to their victims. With a growing number of minority populations in every demographic, combating health disparities is necessary for the wellbeing of the overall population and improving medical care. My interest

Medical researcher, Dr. Leonard Egede, wrote "Race, Ethnicity, culture and disparities in healthcare," published in June of 2006 in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. He explains that patients of minority ethnicity experience greater morbidity and mortality from different chronic diseases than non- minorities. In his article, minority patients are more vulnerable populations and include groups that do not receive health care services. According to Dr. Egede, the Institution of Medicine (IOM) racial and ethnic disparities still exist in health care, since they are connected with worse outcomes in many cases, are not acceptable. Also, IOM reports that there are some interesting views in regard to comprehending and recognizing the sources of disparities, assisting factors, planning and measuring effective interventions to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health care. The role of IOM is significant because it provides suggestions and directs the importance of data collection that impacts

In summary, the text elaborates on the issues at hand with both the business and social aspects of the inconsistencies in reaching fair and equitable healthcare within the United States. The aim is to reduce these discrepancies of racial/ethnic or socioeconomic disparities within the healthcare system by implementing interventions. A vital intervention is escalating responsibility and taking a closer look to polish up the quality of clinical care given for individual patients and communities. While working on these health imbalances, the healthcare organizations want to know that there will be a return on investment.

I agree with your statement Patterson. It is left up to health care professionals to start the process of health equality. By advocating and getting involve with policy makers to make sure that all resources that are available for one community are also available for the minority communities. Everyone should have equal access to health care, and most importantly to preventive medicine. It has been proven that preventive medicine is less costly, and some of the insurance companies have been embracing this idea by given incentives to those who complete their yearly checkup.

In the last twenty years, the rising number of disparities in health and healthcare has increased simultaneously with the influx of minorities within the population (Baldwin, 2003) A4. As the size of an ethnically diverse population steadily continues to increase, so will the level of complexities of patients’ health needs, which nurses and other healthcare staff will be expected to address (Black, 2008) A1. The issue of racial, ethnic and health disparities for minorities exists for several complex reasons, however, even with this being widely known, very little action has been taken to try and correct it (Baldwin, 2003) A4. Research findings suggest that without actively implementing cultural diversity within the healthcare workforce, quality in healthcare will decline while health disparities continue to rise (Lowe & Archibald, 2009) A3. So although the shortage of nursing staff should be a high-priority for change in the U.S., the need for more registered nurses with racially

Since the early twentieth century to the present, many were deprived of their human rights due to their own wall of ignorance. Their inability to accept others regardless of their pigmentation, gender, sexuality, religion, or any other differences that makes us unique. We’re constantly reminded of the disadvantages that as minorities we face as we indulge in activities that will allow us to procure equanimity across all social and cultural barriers. As a middle class black male, I’ve been raised under the conceived notion that black men do nothing but hurt society. However, I take pride in my ethnicity and the degradation from the media, my peers and my family won’t stop me from all I wish to achieve. I aspire to debunk the stereotype of black men being incapable of supporting their families and becoming complete failures in the eyes of society. As a result, it’s my personal goal to do the exact opposite and to have a successful future in the medical profession. Even though my adventure has just started, I’ve taken many steps to accomplish my goal such as attending the Summer Medical and Dental Education Program (SMDEP) at Yale’s School of Medicine.