Racial Disparities in Public Health and Housing - Research Paper Example

Racial Disparities in Public Health and Housing Racial Disparities in Public Health and Housing Introduction Racial disparities, as evidenced in mortality, reflect pathways that are divergent over time to the large current health related racial disparities. The African American residential concentration is distinctive and high. Moreover, other related inequities in socioeconomic circumstances, medical care and neighborhood environments are significant factors in initiation and maintenance of racial disparities in health. Implementations should be underway in identification and maximizing resources that enhance health in order to reduce the negative effects on health and psychosocial factors. Health and its associated disparities are embedded in vast geographic, economic, historical, political and sociocultural contexts. Changes in public policies would go a long way in tackling the disparities associated with racism (Krieger and Bassett, 1986). Health care disparities refer to the differences in specific populations in terms of disease presence, accessibility and quality of health care services and the outcome as exhibited across ethnic and racial groups. These disparities represent lack of effectiveness within health care systems and leading to accountability of unnecessary costs. Several economic and political studies have concluded that elimination of the disparities reduces expenditure. Literature Review Health disparities arise from factors such as poor quality of health care, inadequate health care facilities access, personal behavior and community features like violence and poverty. The mentioned factors are usually associated with ethnic and racial minority groups that are underserved, individuals with economic obstacles experience, communities who are medically underserved and disabled individuals (Zack, 2002). Rural and urban residents consequently experience disparities. Low performance on health indicators such as life expectancy, infant mortality, insurance coverage and chronic disease prevalence show big differences between ethnic and racial minority groups versus their white counterparts. This is rampant even with health insurance, income and health care facilities accessibility accounted for (Zack, 2002). Racial disparities are also rampant in the sector of public housing. Such is evident in the industry of home mortgage, foreclosure rates and homeownership rates. There are significant differences between Whites and Blacks in terms of homeownership levels and loan approvals. The rates of foreclosure for the communities of color are disproportionate to rates of their White counterparts. The greatest impact is on foreclosure rates as compared to rates of home denial and rates of homeownership. In an analysis of racial disparities regarding homeownership and lending, the key factors are place and race. However, race, as a factor, is more influential than the geographical location. Racial disparities widen within geographical areas and color communities in comparison to the Whites, experience disproportionate foreclosure rates. A multi-faceted approach that is corresponding is required to curb such disparities (Krieger and Bassett, 1986). Theoretical and Conceptual Frameworks A theoretical framework is needed and important in comprehending how the race related health inequalities were established and how they are maintained. The racial disparities are historically rooted in the slavery. Complex history about race and racism developments and other ideologies concurrently arose in England together with slavery development. The English textile and cotton industries together with shipping industries in American colonies are said to have grown on the Africans’ slaves back. This was enacted through the slave trade of Britain and the American slave labor. The African slaves’ labor produced capital that drove the industrial revolution of England. After the slave holding was defeated, during the Civil War of the US, the ideology of racism was promulgated by property owners who were non-slaveholding for purposes of dividing and weakening workers against their opposition (Zack, 2002). After the US civil war, there was denied land tenure and the African Americans were primarily driven into working class. The racial discrimination drove disproportionate locations of African American into positions that were non-credentialed, non-property owning and non-managerial. This process of significant differential social layers’ disposition explains within-class health status differences. The class relations that are racialized concentrate African Americans in working classes and to some extent this becomes a constituent part of causal pathway in which one’s race affects their health. The social classes that were dominant in the XVII and XVIII centuries had labor racialized through slavery and in today’s life, there is the capitalist class that ideologically, economically and politically dominate the world (Smedley, 1999). Ethnic and racial health inequalities can be eliminated worldwide without economic relations structural changes thereby shifting of the public health focus to targeted but limited interventions. In order to achieve such a goal, African Americans require social relationships restructuring. Educational efforts and income redistribution aimed at dispelling the ideology of racism can eliminate ethnic and racial health disparities. Theoretical framework recognizes that exploitation in relation to class sets stages for and interacts with racial discrimination in determining health racial inequities. These inequities together with other ethnic and racial disparities are reprehensible even though substantial evidence indicates that social classes illuminate the aspect of social variation in mental and general health not taken into account by conventional measures. Neighborhoods’ characteristics can affect ethnic and racial health differences as suggested by conceptual frameworks. This effect has special emphasis on the health of aging populations. The information for the conceptual framework is drawn from more diverse epidemiological and sociological literature on health and neighborhoods in order to illustrate certain characteristics that have the potential to affect ethnic and racial health differences (Krieger and Bassett, 1986). The focus of neighborhood effects is on behavioral and social outcomes including behavioral and child cognitive development, educational attainment, school dropout, crime and delinquency, sexual activity, substance use, contraceptive use, income, childbearing and participation in forced labor. The importance of local context is to better comprehend persistent and striking ethnic and racial differences across the health outcome range that have eluded efforts towards explaining them by use of data at an individual’s level. There are vast ethnic and racial differences across a good number of mortality and morbidity causes and even though at times casual observation seems so obvious that, perhaps, some health inequality is related to an ecological niche. This niche could be where certain ethnic and racial groups are born, brought up, live and work there too. Residential segregation demonstrates that it is important to assess disparities that are place-based in order to further understand health disparities that are race-based (Loury, 2002). Research Hypothesis Ethnic and racial health care disparities occur in broader historic contexts and contemporary economic inequality and there is evidence of ethnic and racial discrimination that is persistent in many states worldwide. By utilization of the health data available, strategies can be developed by public health officials to implement programs that will improve the health status. SPSS Data Set Name of the variable Label Type(Width) Vale codes Missing codes Parishes Numeric(2) None Race String (4) 1. White 2. Black 3. Hispanics 4. Asian HD Health Disparities Numeric(2) None Score Test Score Numeric (5) None (Loury, 2002). Data Analysis A relationship was established between race as the variable and other health status indicators like incidence. Statistical significant relations were also found among health indicators and race after qualitative and quantitative testing. These relationships prove that there health outcomes differences that are based on ethnicity and race of residents. The likelihood of associations between dependent variables like insurance rates, incidence rates and independent variable like race being caused by chance was measured. The measurements showed that the chances statistically increase above 0.5 (Loury, 2002). In the analytical framework, structure and guidance was provided regarding this study by briefly reviewing health disparities. The socio-economic status differences were exposed and stressed by race. Racism also affects healthcare in terms of accessibility and differences in the diagnostic testing and options of treatment including the quality. Disparities are consistent across clinical services and disease areas even when factors like age, disease stage, severity and co-morbidities are taken into account (Smedley, 1999). The review was an attempt to discover methodologies of research that have been utilized to bridge gaps previously within the health sector among them ethnic and racial disparities. The literature review was significant in that it identified health needs assessments that lead to effective intervention of health programs. Health requirements assessments are public health tools that are recommended for provision of evidence about a particular population’s health (Navarro, 2004). That information is the one used for planning and addressing health inequalities in a targeted population. Some health assessments provide opportunities for engagements with given populations enabling them participate and contribute to the targeted resource allocation and service planning. Health sector assessments facilitate opportunities for collaborations between public-serving agencies like the local health provider systems, local health department and nonprofit organizations for sole purposes of planning and development of health programs (Loury, 2002). A Nova Table Conclusion The future research should focus on further assessments and measurements regarding health disparities of ethnic and racial minority groups in comparison to their White counterparts. Efforts to increase sample sizes when conducting studies should be in place for a better representation of the minorities with more respondents to be interviewed. Research to determine the most efficient and effective health programs like billboard campaigns, one-time presentations, the Internet and recurring TV programs amongst others should be conducted on all ethnic and racial groups. Generally, levels of racism are institutional such as differential access to services, goods and opportunities in society dependent on race. Another level is personally mediated whereby there are differential assumptions regarding motives, intentions and abilities of other people based on their race. Discrimination can also be internalized where stigma is rife and negative messages about one’s intrinsic worth and abilities amongst members of a given race (Navarro, 2004). Health care disparities delivered to ethnic and racial minorities are so real and associated with the worst outcomes in very many cases and this is unacceptable. The challenge does not lie in debates whether or not disparities do exist because there is overwhelming evidence, but lies in the development and implementation of strategies that reduce and eliminate those disparities. In search of solutions to eliminate health disparities, the concerned parties should bear in mind that racism was created and can, therefore, be undone. If it can be undone, people should understand when it was created, why it is functioning and its maintenance strategy. In order to undo institutional racism that is rampant within systems of health care, participatory strategies should be emphasized to allow for decision-making and leadership to rest in hands of the service recipients. Funding and supporting providers that are neighborhood-based should address differences in health care accessibility. Identification and reduction of health care barriers and protection of health insurance programs that are publicly funded address the accessibility problems. Provision of anti-racism training, training of medical interpreters, procedures and institutional policies review and establishment of a review board for the community (Navarro, 2004). Health status improvement of the populations that are non-dominant can be catered for by focusing on political issues of unequal opportunity, discriminations and differential exposure to risks in addition to quality improvement initiatives within systems of health care. References Krieger, N. and Bassett, M. (1986). The health of black folk: Disease, class, and ideology. Monthly Revolution, 38, 74–85. Loury, G. (2002). The Anatomy of Racial Inequality. Cambridge: Harvard University Press Navarro, V. (2004). The politics of health inequalities research in the United States. International Journal of Health Services, 34, 87–99 Smedley, A. (1999). Race in North America: Origin and Evolution of a Worldview. Columbia: Westview Press Zack, N. (2002). Philosophy of Science and Race. New York: Routledge Read More