The Health Disparities in the Health Centers - Assignment Example

Health and Healthcare Disparities Nova Southeastern College of Health Care Sciences Department of Health Science Name DHS Number Course Title Assignment Week Number Date Health and Healthcare Disparities Introduction For the past five decades, the level of population in the country has increased tremendously. Major changes have been implemented in order to provide the citizens with high quality service. However, the health sector continues to record high cases of disparities, and poor services delivery especially to people in the minority group. The government has been in the forefront in trying to ensure that there is equity in the distribution of jobs and resources to all facilities that serve people from both classes. However, little success has been achieved. Therefore, there is a need to restructure the current policies in order to meet the needs of the current society. This paper will address the health disparities in the health centers and various aspects that cause this challenge. Discussion With the current level of globalization which results from liberalization of markets, efficient flow of information, and integration of economies, the role of the government in the global sector has increased immensely. The health sector has benefited from critical information emanating from different parts of the world. Although some statistics indicate that service delivery has improved over the years, this improvement does not reflect on the ground. The gap between the rich and the poor in the society continues to widen. In the employment sector, the Blacks, Hispanics, and American Asians continue to lag behind despite making up the largest population segment. The government has a mandate of ensuring that all people have access to quality health care. Although there has been several attempts to ensure that all people have a health insurance cover, majority of the people continue to face unequal treatment in the health centers. The disparity being experienced cannot be attributed to a high number of Whites in the health sector only. Other inequalities in the education sector and the society at large have played a significant role in worsening the current situation in the health sector. Summary Health Care Disparity Health and health care disparity is the difference in health and health care between different population groups in a country. Over the years, the minority groups have been lagging behind on issues related to health. This has been expanding the gaps between the rich and the poor in the society. For instance, colored people make the largest segment of the US population. However, a high number of these people are at disproportionate risk of being uninsured. This is because majority of them are not employed. The US population is diverse with different aspects such as color, cultural backgrounds, immigration statuses, and languages being major distinct elements among the population. Statistics indicate that the Hispanics, Blacks, and American Indians earn low incomes compared to the natives (Thomson, Mitchell, Williams & National Research Council (U.S.), 2006). Therefore, majority of them cannot afford the health insurance. In addition, these people face increased barriers while trying access health care. Interventions The government has drafted a HHS Disparities Action Plan in order to establish a vision, strategies, actions, and goals that will reduce the current disparities. The plan aims at building existing HHS activities such as healthy people initiatives. This is through involving the states, communities, private organizations, and health providers. In addition, the Affordable Care Act is expected to significantly increase coverage option especially to low and middle income earners. This is through enhancing safety-net delivery system, improving the access to the providers, promoting diversity in health care workforce, and enhancing cultural competence among the providers. Importance of Addressing Health and Health Care Disparities Matter Addressing health disparity is important in improving social justice in the US. Health disparities are costly, lead to loss of work and productivity, and bring premature death. In case the issue is not well addressed by the government, it might slower the growth of the economy. A recent analysis indicated that at least 30% of direct medical costs of Blacks and Asian Americans result from health inequities (LaVeist, 2013). In addition, the economy records immense losses emanating from the direct and indirect costs of disparities. Currently, the population in US is becoming more diverse. By 2050, colored people will make half the population of US. Given that the colored people makes the largest population segment, it is becoming important to address the health and health care disparities in order to enable the country to record growth and development (LaVeist, 2013). Failure to put up the necessary measure will create the burden to the government and all the citizens at large. Unequal Treatment The number of cases being reported in the health sector which are related to unequal treatment has increased tremendously. Although the government has been in the forefront in addressing the issue of health and health disparities in the country, Blacks, Hispanics, and Asian Americans continue to face unequal treatments in the health centers. The treatment starts from the society where they are discriminated against in working places and the society. However, the health sector is supposed to be neutral in relation to race gender, religion, or even culture. However, the current trend is worsening and immediate attention and interventions are supposed to be implemented in order to reverse this trend. Majority of the population in the US are colored. This figure is supposed to be replicated in the health sector (LaVeist, 2013). However, this is not the case. Instead, the Whites form the largest percentage of the workforce in the health centers. This is an indication that the rest of the population is discriminated against in the education and employment areas. Unequal treatment arises mainly from a historical and social perspective, whereby the racial and ethnic minorities received inferior healthcare and societal discrimination. This treatment ranges from differences in treatment which is attributable to insurance, access to care, and health status. The most common unequal treatment is by the service providers. Doctors have been highly associated with prejudice. In many cases, doctor-patient interactions are low especially when the doctors are handling a patient who emanates from a minority group. Medical decisions being made by health providers when they are under intense pressure have been affected by prejudice. For instance, during service delivery, doctors and other healthcare providers are sometimes required to make critical judgment concerning the treatment of the patient. However, when the doctors are handling a case of a person from the minority groups, they tend to be complacent and do not give too much attention to the critical details (Barr, 2014). The statistics on negligence and racial discrimination in our health care centers have increased tremendously over the years. As a result, there is need to ensure that health and health disparities are addressed in order to eliminate unequal treatment in the health sector. Social Determinants of Health These are circumstances in which people are born, grow up, work, age, and systems that are put in place to deal with different illness that affect the population. These aspects are mainly shaped by economic, social policies, and politics. Health Inequalities According to World Health Organization, health inequalities or inequities are avoidable inequalities that arise from inequalities between societies. Both the social and economic conditions and their effects determines that actions to be taken in order to prevent a specific group of people from becoming ill (Wolitski, Stall, & Valdiserri, 2008). These inequalities happen between people within a country or between countries. Social Gradient The poor people have the worst health. With a country, statistics indicate that people in lower social status have poor health. Therefore, there is a social gradient that runs from top to bottom of the socioeconomic spectrum. This is the phenomenon that is seen in the low, middle, and high income countries (Jena, Philipson, & Sun, 2010). Unequal distribution of resources, discrimination based on employment, education, and other important aspects of economy plays a significant role in creating the disparity being seen in the current society. In addition, gender biasness and addressing the wrong issues while trying to alleviate poverty are some of the major aspects that have been associated with the differences. All these elements determine the health of a specific group of people in the society or a country at large. References Barr, D. A. (2014). Health disparities in the United States: Social class, race, ethnicity, and health. Jena, A. B., Philipson, T. J., & Sun, E. (2010). Health and wealth disparities in the United States. Washington, DC: AEI Press. LaVeist, T. A. (2013). Minority populations and health: An introduction to health disparities in the united states. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Thomson, G. E., Mitchell, F., Williams, M., & National Research Council (U.S.). (2006). Examining the health disparities research plan of the National Institutes of Health: Unfinished business. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. Wolitski, R. J., Stall, R., & Valdiserri, R. O. (2008). Unequal opportunity: Health disparities affecting gay and bisexual men in the United States. New York: Oxford University Press. Read More