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Health Disparities Among African Americans in the US
Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the health status of black people residing in the United States. Black people are exposed to significant health risks as a result of the disparities they experience in relation to their health. Discrimination faced by black people has been a significant barrier in their quest to access healthcare. African Americans have low insurance coverage compared to other ethnic groups meaning that they have to spend much money to access essential healthcare services. There is a need to provide cultural competence training to healthcare providers to minimize the disparities faced by black people when seeking medical services.
Description
African Americans are an ethnic minority group residing in the United States and have their roots attached to the African continent. African Americans are often referred to as black people in the country due to their skin color. The ethnic group has a unique history since the people came into existence as a result of the enslaved Africans who ended up in the United States. This group of people has constantly faced economic, social, and political challenges that have acted as a barrier to their progress. The various challenges faced by African Americans have led the population to have a reduced quality of health when compared to people from other ethnic groups. Black people are associated with a high risk of suffering from heart disease, HIV/AIDS, cancer, asthma, pneumonia, and diabetes (Ananian et al., 2018). Such diseases put the population at risk of negative health consequences or death.
Health Disparities and Nutritional Challenges
Black people in the United States are more likely to experience healthcare disparities when compared to other people within the population. One of the factors that contribute to the inequalities experienced by Black people is systemic racism. Systemic racism limits people from accessing essential medical services thus promoting a reduced quality of care for the minority group. This has contributed to people having to carry a greater burden of obesity and its comorbidities. African Americans have the lowest diet quality of any other racial group in the United States (Richards Adams et al., 2019). This results from the fact that they reside in areas that have limited options for healthy foods. People from the ethnic group often have lower calcium intake since they do not consume much milk and other dairy products. This exposes them to a risk of obesity, cardiovascular diseases, and hypertension. Black people are also likely to consume minimal whole fruits compared to other American people. People from the population also have an increased intake of empty calories and sugar-sweetened beverages which can have a negative impact on their healthcare.
Barriers to Health
One of the main barriers to health faced by African Americans is the lack of medical insurance to cover costs incurred when seeking essential services. A significant number of black people residing in the United States do not have medical coverage compared to their white counterparts (Yearby et al., 2022). This makes it challenging for them to access health services since they have to pay out-of-pocket which is often expensive. Another barrier to health faced by people from the population is that they reside in areas that have limited medical facilities and resources. This means that the quality of healthcare they receive is low and therefore cannot help to sustain their wellbeing. Lack of cultural competence and language knowledge among healthcare professionals also makes it challenging for black people to access vital medical services. The peoples ethnic background also enhances the chances of them being discriminated against by medical professionals when seeking healthcare (Lewis & Van Dyke, 2018). The different barriers to health faced by black people contribute to reduced well-being and put them at risk of dying from health problems.
Health Promotion Activities
One of the main health promotion activities implemented among African Americans is faith-based initiatives. People from the ethnic group have a strong connection to their faith which enables religious groups to focus on promoting healthy behaviors. Religious institutions play a great role in promoting attitudes, beliefs, and habits that align with desired values and health outcomes. Faith leaders are trusted and respected by their followers and, therefore, can easily influence them to pursue healthy habits (Majee et al., 2022). Another activity that has been used in health promotion among black people is community health education. This has seen collaboration between community-based organizations and health professionals to provide education on illness prevention and recommended lifestyle habits. Health promotion among African Americans has also been achieved through health advocacy programs. Advocates have been at the forefront of addressing the various disparities faced by black people while also sensitizing the population on health practices.
Three Levels of Health Promotion Prevention
An approach using the tertiary level of health promotion prevention that can be most effective in a care plan for African Americans is enhancing culturally sensitive care. The approach is likely to be the most effective since it will enable healthcare professionals to address barriers and disparities that limit black people from accessing quality healthcare services. In this case, it might be necessary for healthcare providers to undergo cultural competence training to ensure that they are able to work with patients from different backgrounds. Providing training to healthcare professionals will enable them to overcome cultural and linguistic differences that are likely to affect the quality of care they provide to black patients. This indicates that culturally sensitive care will help to eliminate some of the disparities and barriers faced by African Americans when seeking medical care. Cultural competency is necessary for patients to be satisfied with the quality of care they receive from providers.
Culturally Competent Health Promotion
A cultural belief that has to be considered when creating a care plan for black people is their spirituality and religion. African Americans have maintained a strong connection to their faith and focus on following their beliefs. Such beliefs can have an impact on the manner in which people follow up on their health and healing process. Another cultural practice that has to be addressed when working with African American patients is the support from family and community. People from the ethnic group emphasize the need for mutual support. In this case, family members might want to be involved when making decisions about care plans for their loved ones.
A model that would best support culturally competent health promotion for black people is the Cultural Competence Continuum Model. The model outlines the different stages of cultural competence that health providers have to address for them to provide culturally competent care (Cross, 2020). It enables medical professionals to identify and eliminate biases about people from other cultural backgrounds. In this case health providers who have a good understanding of the model can be able to interact with patients from minority groups and provide appropriate care.
Conclusion
In conclusion, healthcare professionals should undergo cultural competence training to ensure that African Americans have access to quality healthcare and vital services. Such training will help to minimize the disparities that contribute to a reduced quality of life for African Americans. Black people face systemic racism which limits their access to needed services thus a reduced quality of life. Black people are also likely to cover more out-of-pocket costs when seeking care due to a lack of medical coverage.
References
Ananian, C. D., Winham, D. M., Thompson, S. V., & Tisue, M. E. (2018). Perceptions of heart-healthy behaviors among African American Adults: A mixed methods study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (Web), 15(11), 2433. Web.
Cross, T. (2012). Cultural competence continuum. Journal of Child and Youth Care Work, 24, 83-85. Web.
Lewis, T. T., & Van Dyke, M. E. (2018). Discrimination and the health of African Americans: The potential importance of intersectionalities. Current directions in psychological science, 27(3), 176-182. Web.
Majee, W., Anakwe, A., Onyeaka, K., Laboy, V., Mutamba, J., Shikles, M., & Chen, L. W. (2022). Participant perspectives on the effects of an African American faith-based health promotion educational intervention: A qualitative study. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 1-12. Web.
Richards Adams, I. K., Figueroa, W., Hatsu, I., Odei, J. B., Sotos-Prieto, M., Leson, S., Huling, J., & Joseph, J. J. (2019). An examination of demographic and psychosocial factors, barriers to healthy eating, and diet quality among African American adults. Nutrients, 11(3), 519. Web.
Yearby, R., Clark, B., & Figueroa, J. F. (2022). Structural racism in historical and modern us health care policy: Study examines structural racism in historical and modern US health care policy. Health Affairs, 41(2), 187-194. Web.
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