Sickle Cell Thesis

The answer is no simple or a single solution. Rather, the answers must address the range of causes of disparities (inequalities in education, housing, and health insurance) and empower multiple levels of change ( patients, providers, health systems, policymakers, communities). These levels of change are most commonly found in the fundamental public health Socio-Ecological model. In this model, there are 5 levels, intrapersonal, interpersonal, community, institutions and policy, that could be focused on when implementing solutions to public health concerns, which health disparities would be considered. One method that should be looked at very closely in the institutional level of the model is reorganizing the curriculum of physician education in order to incorporate cultural competency. Such training can improve provider knowledge, attitudes and skills, which may be an important precursor to addressing unconscious provider bias. Drawing upon evidence in social cognitive psychology, Van Rhys Burgess have outlined strategies and skills for healthcare providers to prevent unconscious racial biases from influencing the clinical encounter. Their framework includes: 1) Enhancing internal motivation and avoiding external pressure to reduce bias, 2) Enhancing understanding of the psychosocial basis of bias, 3) Enhancing providers’ confidence in their

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

Sickle Cell Disease is an illness that affects people all across the globe. This paper will give a description of the sickness through the discussion of the causes, symptoms, and possible cures. Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is a "group of inherited red blood cell disorders."(1) These disorders can have various afflictions, such as pain, damage and a low blood count--Sickle Cell Anemia.

More Diverse Healthcare Professionals lead to positive patient outcomes. Racial and ethnic minorities have higher rates of poor health outcomes than white in the case of disease, even when income, employment status and insurance coverage are controlled. Cultural bias is one contributor to this, according to the IOM Report Unequal Treatment:

Sickle cell anemia is a hereditary disorder that mostly affects people of African ancestry, but also occurs in other ethnic groups, including people who are of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern descent. More than 70,000 Americans have sickle cell anemia. And about 2 million Americans - and one in 12 African Americans - have sickle cell trait (this means they carry one gene for the disease, but do not have the disease itself).

Sickle cell disease is a disease that is most prevalent in people of African descent along with people of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern origin. This disease is known to affect about 70, 000 Americans and about 2 million people carry the trait (meaning that, they carry a single gene mutation).

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 recent discussions of health care disparities, a controversial issue has been whether racism is the cause of health care disparities or not. On one hand, some argue that racism is a serious problem in the health care system. From this perspective, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) states that there is a big gap between the health care quality received by minorities, and the quality of health care received by non-minorities, and the reason is due to racism. On the other hand, however, others argue that health care disparities are not due to racism. In the words of Sally Satel, one of this view’s main proponents, “White and black patients, on average don’t even visit the same population of

When Malaria is present and infects red blood cells, parasites can infect cells carrying defective hemoglobin which may result in death. Allele frequency changes over time depending on the pressures or circumstances facing a particular population. African populations are especially impacted by both malaria and sickle cell anemia. Depending on the impacted population, allele frequency often shifts and well suited organisms are likely to survive and allele frequencies can increase. When a population is effected by disease or other circumstances, allele frequency may decrease or change. HbA (normal hemoglobin) and HbS (defective hemoglobin) have varying frequencies and while the HbS gene is present in populations it is

According to a poll completed by Gallup Minority Rights and Relations, "one in five (20%) blacks feel that during just the past 30 days, they were treated unfairly in a healthcare situation because they are black" (Coleen McMurray 2002). In our modern day society, it is very redundant to treat blacks differently from whites especially regarding medical reasons. The disparity between these two races eradicates the vision of most hospitals in general. For example, the Rochester General Health System (RGHS) in New York states that their mission is to "improve the health of the people served by providing high quality care, a comprehensive range services, convenient and timely access with exceptional service and compassion" (Rochester General Health

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

Diversity in health care matters and it is a system in itself of itself that can work. Areas in healthcare that are underrepresented occurs with regards to Race, Ethnicity, Culture and Gender (Healey 2014). Several measures have been implemented to level the inequalities in the American health care system: Affirmative Action, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as well as the Civil Rights Act. These laws prohibit discrimination against certain protected population subgroups based on race, national origin, skin color, sex

The sickle cell disease is an inherited blood disorder that affects red blood cells. People with sickle cell have red blood cells that have mostly hemoglobin's, Sometimes these red blood cells become sickle-shaped or crescent shaped and have trouble going through small blood vessels. When sickle-shaped cells block small blood vessels, less blood can get to that part of the body. Tissue that does not get a normal blood flow eventually becomes damaged. This is what causes the problems of sickle cell disease.

A mutation is a change or error in an organism’s DNA, while the organism is still developing. The DNA that is replicated is not functional, so the cells follow the wrong set of instructions, which prevents the organism from developing normally. Cells that follow the wrong set of instructions, often leads the organism to growing an extra limb, or the organism may develop a disease/disorder. Some mutations can cause an organism to be missing an important protein. The organism’s proteins are important, they make up mostly the whole organism’s body. Parents with mutations usually pass down their genes to their offspring. Mutations are usually genetic. Environment also plays a role in causing mutations, smoking, sunlight, and radiation are mostly

Sickle Cell Anemia is a hereditary disease that changes the smallest and most important components of the body. A gene causes the bone marrow in the body to make sickled shapes, when this happens; it causes the red blood cell to die faster. This is what causes Hemolytic Anemia. Older children and adults with sickle cell disease may experience a few complications, or have a pattern of ongoing problems that shorten their lives. The most common and serious complications of sickle cell disease are anemia, pain, fatigue, and organ failure. Today there are many alternatives and opportunities that a sickle cell patient may consider. One outlined in this paper is the Hydroxyurea method.