The Media in Democratic Societies and Health-Related Information - Research Paper Example

 In many countries of the developed world the freedom of the press is enshrined as an important value and is perceived by many to be an intrinsic component of civil society and democracy. Thus, an active and free media is said to promote key aspects of civil society in a liberal democratic society including an unfettered access to divergent sources of information, the promotion of pluralism as well as appropriate checks and balances on political authority. Freedom of expression is seen by many as a relatively unfettered freedom which deserves to be protected in a free and fair society. Accordingly, health is an important issue which is topical and frequently in the news. What are the linkages between the media and the promotion of health? While some argue that the media should provide accurate information about health matters, others argue that media censorship (or self-censorship) is sometimes important. Should the media be untainted by distorting ideologies and commercial obligations or is media impartiality a fiction which cannot be reasonably expected of such a diverse social organ? Seeking to address these questions and many more with respect to the role of the media in the promotion of health, this essay will explore the important role that the media plays with respect to the dissemination of health-related information. Furthermore, we will address the particular health challenges faced by African-Americans in the United States today; an issue which is shocking and underreported by the mainstream American media. Key Issues In a free and open society, the mass media plays an important role in communicating health-related information to the general public. Accordingly, in recent times the media has played an important role in communicating the negative health issues surrounding alcohol, tobacco, poor eating habits and a lack of general exercise on overall health. These health risk factors are now commonly accepted as being deleterious to one’s health. Although five decades ago smoking was seen as a social pastime with little to no negative health effects, people today understand that cigarette smoke and tobacco ca have very harmful health ramifications on those who smoke. There are very few people today who would argue that cigarettes are good for your health and this is undeniably the result of a series of proactive campaigns aimed at teaching people about the true negative repercussions of cigarette use. The widespread social acknowledgement that smoking is harmful for one’s health could only be accomplished through the active dissemination of this idea – once contrary to popular opinion – through the channels of the media. Thus the media plays an important and some would say unparalleled role in a free society in the dissemination across geographic and social space (Atkin and Wallack 1990). Objectivity is one important aspect of the media’s role in an open society. However the objectivity is the media is sometimes questioned and there are a variety of instances in which media objectivity is compromised and put into question. From a purely ideological perspective some media outlets are constrained in their ability to provide impartial information due to a corporate culture which promotes certain overriding values and beliefs. An example of this would be the attitudes towards the HIV/AIDS crisis when it was in its infancy in the 1980s by Christian publications. Organs such as the Christian Science Monitor portrayed the nascent AIDS crisis as something which afflicted only homosexual males and not a wider health issue. Although this publication was certainly not alone in its portrayal of the media’s early responses to HIV/AIDS, this characterized is however symbolic of the attitudes of many prominent Christian media organs and outlets in the past as well as today. Commercial interests are also said to have a corrupting influence on the impartiality and objectivity of the media and this is certainly true in light of multi-million dollars sponsorship and advertising deals and the role o pharmaceutical companies in sponsoring media outlets. Accordingly, in a 2004 report the American pharmaceutical industry reportedly spent $33.5 billion in promotion in the United States that year, a country which accounts for 43% of global pharmaceutical sales. Accordingly, this study also found that the pharmaceutical industry spent more than twice on advertising and promotion than it did on research and development (Gagnon and Lexchin 2008; Crossley 2000). Case Analysis: African-American Health Challenges and the Media Inequality in health is a feature of the United States healthcare system. Although this country is the wealthiest, most powerful and arguably the most developed country in the world, access to healthcare is unevenly distributed. Accordingly, there are many repercussions of this unequal access and health ramifications of persistent inequality in the United States are most evident among minority groups. African-Americans in particular face a variety of health challenges in the United States and the following will address some of the most important health issues facing African-Americans today as well as discuss and critique the current approaches to these challenges. It is important to note that while scholars and medical professionals chart, research and debate the important health challenges facing minorities in America today, this is an issue which has been widely ignored by the mainstream. Inequality in health status has plagued the minority population in the United States for more than fifty years. Despite rampant inequalities, there is no single root cause for the disparities. While class differences play a major role in the delivery of health care in the United States, race is also an important issue which needs to be properly explored. Seeking to address the particular health challenges facing African-Americans living in the most prosperous country on the planet, we will explore the particular health issues afflicting African-Americans and look at the approaches presently in place to solve the question of persistent health inequality in America today. In the United States, health insurance coverage ensures that there is financial means by which basic health care can be accessed (Paulin and Dietz 1995). Individual comprehensive health insurance plans depend on an individuals’ age, level of employment, residency, and race/ethnicity. Studies have shown that African-Americans do not receive the same care even if they have the same government funded insurance as their white counterparts, such as Medicare. For example, in a study conducted by the Brown and Harvard Medical Schools, researchers found that there were significant racial disparities within Medicare plans. In addition, they found that the quality of care was a factor concerning race and ethnicity among Medicare beneficiaries. This suggests that in addition to access to care, quality of care is different among ethnic groups. To this extent, racial difference in coverage may influence health disparities and inequities within the healthcare system (Williams J., 2005). Medicare is a federal government funded insurance program for disabled young adults, persons above the age of 65, and those with permanent disabilities who become eligible for Social Security. A racial difference in coverage among Medicare beneficiaries has also been found to influence difference in supplemental care. In a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, it was discovered that 18% of African-Americans, 11% of Hispanic/Latinos and 11% of white Medicare beneficiaries lacked supplemental coverage that was necessary for additional services that were not provided by Medicare (Paulin and Dietz, 1995; LaVeist et al., 2000). In a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, researcher found that a racial divide in the coverage of insurance among Americans between the ages of 55 and 64 was prevalent. Data collected in 2006 illustrated that 23% of Native Americans and 19% of African Americans between the ages of 55 and 64 were uninsured. From the same study, it was found that 10% of the white population in the same age group was also not insured. Because the majority of the uninsured in this age group are not able to pay for their medical coverage when they qualify for Medicare at the age of 65, this disparity will result in an increase of Medicare costs (Garcia, 2007). Medicaid is a national state-run health program that is designed to provide health care for low-income children, working families, and people with disabilities. In other words, it provides health care insurance to those who would otherwise likely be uninsured. Medicaid can be an important option for racial and ethnic minorities who are disproportionately more likely than whites to rely on such a program. Without this program, the number of uninsured people who belong to racial and ethnic minority groups would certainly be higher. A number of studies have documented that factors such as discrimination, bias, language barriers, and preferences about health care also contributes to racial and ethnic health disparities. However, it is important to note that no single factor contributes more to health disparities in health and healthcare than the issue of access to health care (Smedley et al, 2002). In 2007, the Kaiser Family Foundation set out to analyze multiple research findings from various independent studies which were conducted in the U.S. on health insurance and race. Researchers found that health insurance was the largest independent factor that resulted in racial disparities. It accounted for 42% of the disparity in terms of access to healthcare that occurred between African-Americans and whites and also resulted in about 20% of the disparity that occurs between Hispanics and whites (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2007). Health Disparities Today, 1 in 3 Americans identify themselves as Hispanic, African-American, Native American, Asian America or Pacific Islander. It is predicted that by the year 2050, more than half of the American population will be identified as minorities. Over the last fifty years, the United States has made efforts to ensure the improvement of health and health care access for all Americans. In the early 1960s, the United States established policies and programs aimed at expanding the access of healthcare to all citizens. These polices and programs did result in expanding access to health care for low-income families, the disabled and the poor, through Medicaid, Medicare and the 1964 Civil Rights Act. However, disparities in health and healthcare continue to exist among minority populations in the United States. For a country which came into existence based on the premise of equality for all, the United States seems, from a health-perspective, to have ignored one of the very principals under which it was founded (Dunlop, et al., 2003; Gans, 1995). In 1985, the United States Department of Health and Human Services released a landmark report on racial health disparities in the United States entitled, “Secretary’s Task Force Report on Black and Minority Health.” This report revealed significant gaps in the health status among Americans of diverse racial and ethnic groups. This was the first national report to document health disparities between majority and minority populations in the United States. Because of this landmark report, the State of Ohio established the first Office of Minority Health, charged with addressing the plethora of minority health issues in America today. Currently, there are 43 State Offices of Minority Health and Multicultural Health across the country. Although these offices exist throughout the United States, health disparities among minority populations continue to persist (DHSS Report of the Secretary's Task Force on Black and Minority Health, 1986). Accordingly, a number of studies have shown that minority populations have higher mortality rates and diseases such as cancer, HIV/AIDS, and cardiovascular disorders when compared to their white counterparts. Data collected from independent studies over the years has concluded that African-Americans have the worst health outcomes when compared to other minority populations in America. For example, African-Americans have the highest cancer incidences rates and the survival rate for African-American females who suffer from breast cancer is half that of white females. Such disparities are often ignored by the U.S. healthcare system because the system is inefficient in addressing the causal factors which result in health disparities. Not addressing the factors which lead to health disparities further propagates the bridge between the minority and the majority in relation to health outcomes (Fiscella and Williams, 2004; Whittle, et al., 1997). Over the past few decades, the United States has seen extraordinary advances in medicine and medical technology. This has resulted in improved health and healthcare services for U.S. citizens as a collective, thereby, increasing life expectancy, the improvement of health outcomes, and a better overall quality of life. However, certain groups have not benefited equally from these advances. In other words, they have yet to experience equity in health, health care services, and an increase in life expectancy. For example, disease, disability, and death have disproportionately affected racial and ethnic minority populations throughout the U.S. This phenomenon is defined as health disparities, which are also known as health inequalities. Simply stated, health disparities are “population-specific differences in the presence of disease, health outcomes, or access to health care”. This includes differences in access to as well as the quality of health and health care services across racial, ethnic, gender, age, and socioeconomic groups. Other factors include differences in preventive and diagnostic services. Pursuing health equity then is referred to as the absence of health disparities or differences in health care, health care services and health outcomes among specific racial and ethnic groups (Families USA, 2008; DHSS Healthy People 2010, 2000; Brennan, 2008). It has been well documented tin scholarly journals hat racial and ethnic biases in health care services exist. Oddly enough, little attention has been given to this issue in the mainstream media. In one study, 17 percent of the Hispanic population and 16 percent of the African-Americans population reported having fair or poor health, while 10 percent of the white population reported the same. In another study, when compared to white children, African-American children were less likely to have access to quality health care services. Moreover, according to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, infant death rates among Native Americans and Alaska Natives have been reported to be higher when compared to white Americans. Consequently, our public health system does not adequately address the health care needs of minority populations, which in turn leads to health disparities and inequities (DHSS, National Healthcare Disparities Report, 2005). A number of studies have shown that lower income individuals have less access to healthcare when compared to that of middle or higher income individuals. Moreover, studies have shown that economic disparities can also be found in healthcare insurance coverage. In addition to the level of access and health insurance coverage, age, ethnicity, the level of an individuals education and health care provider bias are factors that result in health disparities (Doty and Holmgren, 2004; Fiscella and Williams, 2004; LaVeist and Carroll 2002). In one study, it was found that 17% of the Hispanic population and 16% of the African-American population reported having fair or poor health, while only 10% of the white population reported the same findings. In another study, in which the focus was assessing healthcare in children, researchers discovered that when compared to white children, African-American children were less likely to have access to quality healthcare services. Further, when Native American infants were compared to white American infants and Alaskan Native infants, it was concluded that white American infants had the lowest death rates, compared to these two indigenous groups (Ayanian et al 1995). Cancer continues to be one of the most persistent diseases in the American population. Due to this, extensive efforts have been put into place to ensure that patients receive the best healthcare available. It is however devastating to see that these efforts have not crossed racial lines and racial disparities with respect to cancer treatment continue to reflect health disparities for minority populations. According to a study that was conducted between 1992 and 2002, the U.S. black population has continued to receive inferior cancer treatment compared to that of whites with the same government health insurance policy. The fact that these inequalities have remained at the same level for over ten years illustrates persistent disparities and inequities in all areas of the medical field. However, Aetna Insurance has managed to address these issues by radicalizing the entire healthcare system in order to tailor solutions specifically to address health disparities (Garcia, 2003; Business Wire, 2005). Concluding remarks The media should provide accurate information about health matters and should remain objective when reporting health-related information. The media has an important role to play in this regard in democratic societies and it should not shirk from this responsibility. Accordingly, the media in American must be untainted by distorting ideology, commercial interests and/or a sense of obligation to entertain the audience. As has been demonstrated above, the health challenges of African-Americans are real and grave, yet they remain widely unreported. Although the United States has the most advanced medical care in the world medical care in the U.S. is very expensive and unevenly distributed. While personal bias and racism can influence health inequities, research has shown that societal and institutional racism has also accounted for some of these disparities (Maynard et al., 1986). African-Americans in the United States continue to face a variety of health-related challenges including high rates of general mortality, infant mortality, cancer, hypertension and HIV and AIDS, among others. 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