Essay On Health Care Disparities

Disparities are all around us and can account for inequality that is seen among different race, in education, business, politics and even healthcare. Inequality can affect all aspects of a person’s life. In the United States it is unfortunate that every citizen is not privy to the same quality of healthcare. This is one of the major challenges and growing issues for the United States healthcare system. The gap in care is derived from racial, ethnic, gender differences in populations. Other factors that cause disparities in health care are income, insurance status, age, religion, mental disabilities, cognitive, sensory or physical disabilities, geographic location, or sexual orientation and gender identification. Racial and ethnic minorities

between a span of 2000 and 2010, the prevalence concerning chronic disease comorbidities have increased from 32.2-42.4% for Hispanics and African American population from 43.8-51.6% in people 65 and older. In order to get these numbers to start decreasing those that work in healthcare must first understand the social determinants of health such as conditions where people are born, grow up and live. One social determinant that affects a population access to health is socioeconomic status. Low socioeconomic status is seemingly the most common cause for health care disparities. Socioeconomic status is characterized by a person’s or group’s social standing, education, income and occupation. People that live in low income communities may not have access to nutritious food, adequate shelter or reliable transportation which can lead to decrease in health. One example of health disparities that plague low income families is lack of oral care reach can lead to a domino effect on medical health. There are over 45 million adults and children who live in an area where there is a shortage of dental care. Over half of the low income children have not been seen by a dentist or have received some form of preventative dental care because a lack in insurance. Also, there is a likely possibility that adults living in these types of areas are not receiving care as well. A correlation between lack of dental care or poor dental care can lead to diabetes, heart disease, premature birth, and or problems with births has been identified (Vanderbilt et al,