ESSAY: Public Health

To what extent does discrimination and racism create health disparities? Why are some populations more likely to experience health disparities? Support your position with multiple examples.

ANSWER

To what extent do discrimination and racism create health disparities?

According to research, racial disparities in the health care system have become extensive and perverse in the United States (Kung, Hoyert, Xu & Murphy, 2008). The differences occur for patients that have a wide range of diseases. Examples from research suggest that black patients living with cancer are less likely to receive a quality standard of care and treatment for specific cancer. Black patients with terminal renal disease are less likely to get kidney transplants. Also, back patients living with HIV were less likely to obtain the proper prophylactic antibiotic and antiretroviral treatment. From these examples, health care racial disparities result in poor health outcomes for…

Why are some populations more likely to experience health disparities?

Research shows that blacks and other minorities are less likely to receive high-quality health care than their white counterparts in both simple and technologically advanced treatments and procedures. The reason for this p…

References

Kung, H. C., Hoyert, D. L., Xu, J., & Murphy, S. L. (2008). Deaths: final data for 2005. Natl Vital Stat Rep, 56(10), 1-120.

Levine, D. A., Allison, J. J., Cherrington, A., Richman, J., Scarinci, I. C., & Houston, T. K. (2009). Disparities in self-monitoring of blood glucose among low-income ethnic minority populations with diabetes, United States. Ethn Dis, 19(2), 97-103.

Nelson, A. (2002). Unequal treatment: confronting racial and ethnic disparities in health care. Journal of the National Medical Association, 94(8), 666.