The topic is relevant because there is a large gap between what can be offered by medicine and what is actually offered to people of color. Investigating the reasons for the existence of health disparities allow for the proposal of solutions to reduce them.…
Home and Community-Based Services for the Developmentally Disabled (HCBS-DD) Waiver is administered by the California Department of Developmental Services (DDS) who will authorize home and community-based services for developmentally disabled persons who are Regional Center consumers. Twenty-one regional centers throughout California purchase and coordinate services and supports for individuals with developmental disabilities. The Waiver services make it possible for consumers to live in the community instead of an Intermediate Care Facility for the developmentally disabled or a State Developmental Center.…
Throughout history, nurses have intervened on behalf of patients and families to improve aspects of patient care. One of the ways that nurses advocate for patients is by influencing the policies that impact health inequities. These inequities that nurses observe day-to-day are linked to larger societal issues that cause disparities between populations. Because nurses see the barriers that stand in the way of healthy habits, they can be the force of change within government (Cohen & Marshall, 2016). Nurses are well-suited for this role due to the extended amount of time spent at the bedside.…
There are numerous challenges we, as healthcare providers, face and are going to face in the near future. After careful review of the literature throughout this course, I believe that combating health disparities and the inevitable practice of rationing of care may be the greatest challenge of all due to the economic climate of healthcare in the United States. Although it will not be easy, in order to effectively combat rising costs of care and subsequent limited access, I believe access to public health services must be expanded. How do you see yourself being involved with addressing these…
Primary care providers and health centers who provide care for lower income families are on the front lines in treating…
The United States is gradually becoming more diverse, racially and ethnically (Delphin-Rittmon, Andres-Hyman, Flanagan, & Davidson, 2013; Douglas, Rosenkoetter, Pacquiao, Callister, Hattar-Pollara, Lauderdale, Milstead, Nardi, & Purnell, 2014; Loftin, Hartin, Branson, & Reyes, 2013). However, multiple studies indicate there is a severe lack of health care available to care for this patient population. Inadequate access to healthcare, decrease quality of care, and poor outcomes for individuals with racial and ethnic disparities has become increasingly more evident in the healthcare settings.…
How far exactly did we come in attempting to achieve health equality and equity? Measures to reduce health disparities focuses on several key themes: (1) How persistent health disparities are (2) The economic condition (3) Race and discrimination (4) Geographic location (5) Raising awareness on the issue of health disparities (6) Shaping or integrating better health policies (7) The function of a community in developing plans to tackle health disparities (8) The promising Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Certainly, there are many other topics encased in health disparities that need to be addressed other than the aforementioned. However, these challenges often include measuring issues (i.e. the level of cultural competency) that are difficult to get an exact estimation for. That is, it is an on-going trial-and-error method until there are positive results.…
Despite major advances in the fields of medicine and healthcare services over the past years, a significant health gap between rich and poor remains. As populations grow, so apparently do health disparities. The poor continue to shoulder a particularly disproportionate social burden in terms of inequitable access to decent healthcare, rising costs and higher rates of morbidity and mortality.…
These factors, which influence an individual’s or population’s health, are known as determinants of health. Recognizing the continuing problem of disparities, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) developed an action plan for reducing racial and ethnic health disparities. The HHS Disparities Action Plan establishes a vision of, “a nation free of disparities in health and health care,” and sets out a series of priorities, strategies, actions, and goals to achieve this vision. The action plan builds on existing HHS initiatives, such as the Healthy People initiative. States, local communities, private organizations, and providers also are engaged in efforts to reduce health…
In CPH 387 thus far, we have discussed and built a foundation to help us understand health disparities and health equity, as well as why health equity is important for everyone. Considering that the United States spend more per capita on healthcare than any other developed nation, yet continues to have subpar overall health scores throughout our populations (David Squires, Chloe Anderson, U.S. Healthcare from A Global Perspective), describes a deep-seeded health inequality, which results in fewer health benefits throughout. It has been researched and can be seen that, throughout countries considered more equal, health disparities overall decrease, and more benefits arise, such as higher educational scores, lower morbidity and mortality rates,…
Disparities in healthcare refers to differences between ethnic groups in health insurance coverage, access to care, and the quality of care. Although the term disparities is often used to describe racial or ethnic disparities, there are many dimensions of disparity that exist in the U.S. "There's evidence indicating that socioeconomic status, racial discrimination, and their consequences play a substantial role in health disparities in the U.S." Research shows that racial and ethnic disparities in health are the result of existence of adverse social determinants that contribute to minorities poor health and less access to healthcare. In this report I talk about why there's disparities in healthcare, and the reason why African Americans have…
effect on the aging population, which may reduce the quality of life, increase costs for…
Perhaps the United States is the only industrialized nation in the world without the universal healthcare system for its citizens. A large number of the U.S. population does not have healthcare coverage, and it is more obvious among the population of color, minorities, low socioeconomic statuses, and cultures. Studies show Blacks, Hispanics, American Indians and people with low income are likely to be uninsured. They not only lack the healthcare coverage, but also do not get the quality of care and experience worse health outcomes. Disparities in health and healthcare are persistent problem in the U.S. As a prospective student pharmacist and future healthcare professional, it is a significant issue to me.…
Second, health care reform is needed to improve the quality of care, which is the worst in the developed world. Chronic diseases cause almost 70% of deaths in the United States and effect 45% of all Americans. As our population ages, the incidence of this will continue to rise. By 2023 cancer and diabetes will increase 50%, heart disease 40% and hypertension and lung disease will be up by 30%. Each year, the cost of treatment totals $1.7 trillion, representing 75% of all health care dollars spent. The cost can be lowered through disease prevention and wellness programs (Amadeo, 2011).…
The structure of the U.S heath care system is certainly a topic greatly debated. Whether it is discussing the cost of health care, poor outcomes, shortages in health care workers, underutilization of other health care workers, the lack of access to care, or growing demand by consumers for health care that offers choice, quality, convenience, affordability and personalized care. It is not a secret that the United States spends more money than any other nation on health care, but only ranks 34th in the world in life expectancy and has higher mortality rates in infants than any other nation that is developed.…