What health disparities exist in the US?
Health disparities include the following:
- Mortality.
- Life expectancy.
- Burden of disease.
- Mental health.
- Uninsured/underinsured.
- Lack of access to care.
Where did health disparities start?
Health disparities exist even in health care systems that offer patients similar access to care, such as the Department of Veterans Affairs, 4 which suggests that disparities originate outside the formal health care setting.
How long has health disparities been around?
The earliest reported observation of a hypothesized association between socioenvironmental risk factors and health outcomes occurred in Italy over three centuries ago when Bernardino Ramazzini detailed an unusually high frequency of breast cancer in Catholic nuns [1].
Why do health disparities exist in the United States?
An underlying cause of disparities are socioeconomic policies, health access, and lack of health education issues among minority groups that Caucasian individuals are as likely to encounter.
What caused health disparities?
Many factors contribute to health disparities, including genetics, access to care, poor quality of care, community features (e.g., inadequate access to healthy foods, poverty, limited personal support systems and violence), environmental conditions (e.g., poor air quality), language barriers and health behaviors.
Why do health care disparities exist in the United States?
When was the term health disparities coined?
But when the term “health disparity” was coined in the United States around 1990, it was not meant to refer to all possible health differences among all possible groups of people.
What are healthcare disparities?
Healthcare disparities are differences in access to or availability of medical facilities and services and variation in rates of disease occurrence and disabilities between population groups defined by socioeconomic characteristics such as age, ethnicity, economic resources, or gender and populations identified …
What factor is often considered the most fundamental cause of health disparities?
Social conditions are fundamental causes of health disparities because they are primary (occur first), exemplify access to important resources, affect multiple disease outcomes through multiple risk factors, and maintain an association with disease even when intervening predisposing factors change.
Why are there so many health disparities in the United States?
Racial and ethnic disparities are arguably the most obstinate inequities in health over time, despite the many strides that have been made to improve health in the United States. Moreover, race and ethnicity are extremely salient factors when examining health inequity ( Bell and Lee, 2011; Smedley et al., 2008; Williams et al., 2010 ).
Are there racial disparities in the United States?
Although the term disparities is often interpreted to mean racial or ethnic disparities, many dimensions of disparity exist in the United States, particularly in health. If a health outcome is seen to a greater or lesser extent between populations, there is disparity.
How does racial and ethnic inequality affect health?
Racial and ethnic inequality refers to advantages and disadvantages that different groups face and how these socially constructed categories have an impact on individuals. Health disparities are differences that exist among different populations and they can have an effect on the health potential of individuals.
What was the goal of healthy people 2000?
During the past 2 decades, one of Healthy People’s overarching goals has focused on disparities. In Healthy People 2000, it was to reduce health disparities among Americans. In Healthy People 2010, it was to eliminate, not just reduce, health disparities.