HEALTH DISPARITIES

Health Disparities

Health Disparities

Introduction

There are varying definitions of health disparities, or healthcare inequality, within the healthcare community. A health disparity, defined, as a substantial difference in health between one population, and, another. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) defines health disparities as “the differences between groups of people that can affect how frequently a disease affects a group, how many people get sick, or how often the disease causes death.” The NIH identifies the different populations influenced by health disparities as “racial and ethnic minorities; residents of rural areas; women, children, the elderly; and persons with disabilities.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explains health disparities as “differences in the incidence, prevalence, and mortality of a disease, and, the related adverse health conditions that exist among population groups. Some of these populations are characterized by a greater rate of avoidable disabilities, disease, and death compared to other populations and non minorities. Therefore, all issues related to health disparities will be discussed in detail.

Causes

There are several factors that contribute to health disparities. Most notably, these disparities are attributed, by the CDC, to result from the “complex interaction among genetic variations, environmental factors, and, health behaviors.” Factors affecting such disparities include personal, socioeconomic, and environmental characteristics or social determinants; access to healthcare system delivery; and quality of healthcare received. The disparities may arise from increased risk of disease from occupational exposure or underlying genetic, ethnic, or familial factors, as well. Examples include evidence that low-income and racial and ethnic minorities are affected by disparities in rates of insurance, lack of access to a primary care provider and ineffective or miscommunication with a healthcare provider. Due to, these factors, it is more difficult for certain populations to achieve health benefits. The well-being of these groups is significantly associated with their socioeconomic status and race. For example, low-income Americans and racial and ethnic minorities have relatively limited access to care also higher rates of disease, especially obesity, cancer, diabetes, and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). The CDC has found the most common and prevalent diseases correlated to health disparities within each of these groups (Dovidio, 2008).

Measurement of Socioeconomic Status

The second exogenous variable in the model is socioeconomic factors. No matter how they measure socioeconomic status (SES), researchers find when an individual's SES will be lower; the mental and physical health will be much poorer. In USA, Blacks, as a group, have lower incomes, and less education than Whites. Thus, many researchers view SES as a most significant reason of Black-White health differences. According to the model, SES is associated with disparities in health literacy/health behaviors, which concerns (1) knowledge of, and attitudes about, appropriate health care activities, and/or (2) engaging in these activities. SES also directly affects people's access to health care and the quality of health care they receive. Finally, SES is associated with difficult social environments, which include things such as chronic exposure to difficult living conditions, environmental hazards and other acute and chronic stressors that may negatively affect ...