Identifying Health Disparities

Steps to Reduce Health Disparities

Documenting health disparities among different groups in the United States spans more than a quarter of a century. A 2011 report by the federal government on the status of efforts to reduce these inequalities offered a somewhat discouraging conclusion. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “insufficient evidence exists regarding effectiveness of particular interventions in reducing specific disparities among certain defined populations” (2011, p. 9).

In your text, researchers have identified five basic steps that we as a society can take to address and reduce health disparities:

1. Take explicit measures to eliminate unconscious race bias and ethnic bias as a cause of health disparities.
2.  Monitor patterns of care to identify disparities when they exist.
3.  Strengthen the physician-patient relationship, especially when physician and patient are from differing backgrounds.
4.  Increase the racial and ethnic diversity of the medical profession and other health professions.
5. Assure access to care through universal health insurance.

Reference:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2011, January 14). Health disparities and inequalities report—United States, 2011. MMWR, 60, 1–113.

Additional Materials

From your course textbook Health Disparities in the United States: Social Class, Race, Ethnicity, and Health, review the following chapter:

• What Should We Do to Reduce Health Disparities?

From your course textbook Health Promotion in Multicultural Populations: A Handbook for Practitioners and Students, review the following chapters:

• Diffusion Acceleration: A Model for Behavior Change and Social Mobilization
• Tribal-Based Participatory Research: The Wellness Circles Project
• Improving Pacific Islander Health Through Community Participation: A Case Study
• Access to Mental Health Services for Low-Income Immigrant Refugee Arab-Americans: A Case Study
• Health Promotion Tips for the Practitioner and the Student
• Closing Thoughts and Emerging Issues in Multicultural Health Promotion and Disease Prevention

From the Internet, read the following:

• SAMHSA—Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration opens in new window
• Review: Truman, B. I., Smith, C. K., Roy, K., Chen, Z., Moonesinghe, R., Zhu, J., . . . Zaza, S. (2011). Rationale for regular reporting on health disparities and inequalities–United States. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/su6001a2.htm