Healthcare disparities are a long-term healthcare issue that impacts a wide range of populations. According to a 2020 survey conducted by the World Health Organization on the causes and consequences of health disparities in healthcare facilities, it is worth noting; it is good to note that African Americans and other minority groups are the most affected by the challenges brought by healthcare disparities. To better understand the causes and impacts of healthcare disparities, let us consider the definition or description attached to healthcare disparities. According to Barbel (2021), health dispersity is the preventable difference or gap in the provision of quality healthcare services to racial and ethnic groups (Barbel, 2021). Healthcare disparities are also defined as dereferences observed in specific populations when it comes to providing healthcare services to particular groups of people depending on their socioeconomic status, race, gender, level of education, nationality, age, and sexual orientation. According to the CDC, significant challenges caused by the increased gap between people of color and ethnic groups have led to over $93 billion in excess medical care costs. In his study on the causes and effects of healthcare disparities in the United States, Jack (2021) found that healthcare disparities have also led to the loss of productivity, costing the United States over $42 billion. In another separate survey conducted by Levine (2021) concerning Healthy People 2030, the study found that healthcare disparities are the main contributor to increased mortality rates across the United States as a result of premature deaths caused by lack of accessibility of quality and affordable care services more so to seniors aged above 65yers (Barbel, 2021). It is a worrying trend that despite being a long-term healthcare issue that has been in existence since time immemorial, nothing much has been done to mitigate problems or factors leading to differences in healthcare services across races and ethnic groups in the United States.
The articles that will be used for analysis and provision of recommendations or solutions to minimize healthcare disputes will only entail using peer-reviewed articles at most five years old since their publication. Also, reputable nursing and medical research databases will be considered as they offer quality data on the causes and impacts of healthcare disparities. Date of publication, authority, the purpose of the study, target audience, and ability of the article to provide reliable answers to my research question, the language used, the relevance of the study, and the reference used along with citation to validate the information presented and perhaps minimize issues of businesses. Examples of the quality peer-reviewed articles that will be selected for review and report generation on solutions to mitigate healthcare disparities will come from reputable websites such as the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Nurse Association, Mayo Clinic, and John Hopkins website. This website contains millions of articles that have been not only peer-reviewed but also been proven and subjected to various clinical trials to ascertain the effectiveness of suggested interventions for managing healthcare disparities (Jack, 2021). Other credible databases for nursing research that will be considered in providing evidence-based facts on risk factors for healthcare disparities and their effects on quality, cost, and accessib8kity of healthcare services by the affected population are Cochrane Library, ClinicalKey Nursing, JBI EBP Database, Nursing Reference Center and PubMed among others.
Analysis Healthcare Disparities
As mentioned, early healthcare disparities are gaps or differences associated with race, socioeconomic status, location or geography, education, and economic or environmental advantages that increase challenges to accessing quality and affordable healthcare services. The content or setting of healthcare disparities as primary healthcare issues is that it affects mainly people with low socioeconomic status and those that have faced a wide range of racial and ethnic prejudice, an aspect that impacts equity and access to quality and affordable healthcare services (Jack, 2021). Studies by the CDC have also shown that other than racial and ethnic prejudice as the primary contributors to health disparities, genetics and access to care along with community features such as inadequate access to quality education, influence from the neighborhood environment, lack of access to healthy foods, increased levels of poverty and poor housing as well as lack of availability of enough personal support systems.
In their study of the best ways of addressing healthcare disparities in healthcare facilities, Gómez et al. (2021) state that the fragmentation nature of healthcare delivery in the United States is also a key contributor to increased healthcare disparities impacting millions of people mainly living in rural and marginalized regions. The study further reveals that the healthcare disparities contributed by the fragmented nature of how care services are delivered in the US are complex and primarily emanate from deep-rooted historical and contemporary inequities that originate from within healthcare facilities or sectors and internal factors that promote the delivery of healthcare services (Sun, 2023). Lack of accessibility to quality and patient safety healthcare services and failure of healthcare facilities to provide timely healthcare services also highly contribute to healthcare disparities. As per the research conducted by Jack (2021), increased inequalities in healthcare facilities across the United States are attributed to a wide range of factors, and among the common ones include income level, where people with high income are treated with dignity and respect; they deserve while these with low-income face barriers in accessing quality healthcare due financial issues or even lack of insurance coverage (Sun, 2023). Healthcare inequalities have also been attributed to age, where seniors or people aged above 60 years face challenges of transportation, an aspect that makes it challenging to access and keep up with medical appointments. Besides that, seniors living in remote regions or food deserts/regions without adequate grocery stores and healthy food face malnutrition challenges that increase their vulnerability to nutritional-related foods.
Additionally, evidence-based studies by Sun (2023) have also revealed that disability, mental health status, and religion play a crucial role in accelerating healthcare inequalities in the United States. For example, people living with a wide range of disabilities face unique challenges that prevent them from accessing timely and quality healthcare services. This contributes to thousands of missed appointments, impacting quality and patient safety (Sun, 2023). Typical examples of how factors such as race or ethnicity impact healthcare equity can be attributed to cases of lack of care for black Americans and minorities in the United States (Sun, 2023). Unlike their counterparts- the whites whose access to mental care services for dementia is guaranteed a higher access rate, the blacks and minorities face several challenges. Generally, people affected by health disparities include people living with disabilities, sexual and gender minority groups such as LGBTQ+ individuals, underserved rural communities, black Americans, and Asian Americans (Jack, 2021). Also, American Indians and Hispanics are among the affected groups. The topic of inequalities or healthcare disparities and their causes, as well as impacts on affected populations, is essential to every healthcare provider since it provides insights into the root causes of such challenges and, therefore, provides a platform for research and discussion on how to incorporate evidence-based interventions to promote patient advocacy, equity, quality of care and progressive improvement of patient outcomes (Levine, 2021).
The Solution to Mitigate Healthcare Disparities.
As discussed above, healthcare disparities are a serious public concern in the United States, and the adoption of evidence-based strategies to address them requires concerted efforts from all stakeholders. Strategies such as staff training and education programs on healthcare disparities to create Awareness will be essential in minimizing the causes of inequalities in healthcare facilities. Studies by the CDC have shown that raising Awareness among the public and healthcare providers about health disparities is critical as it forms the foundation on which the menace of health inequalities will be fought (Jack, 2021). The importance of providing public and staff education programs on healthcare inequalities will help drive positive change. Another approach is adopting policies that seek to expand Health Insurance Coverage (Gómez et al., 2021). This will cater to older adults with no employment and perhaps support minority groups living in abject poverty. Also, expanding insurance coverage will make it easy for more people to access quality healthcare services for a wide range of health issues impacting them. This will further curb the menace of insurance disparities. Coverage encourages preventive care and effective management of chronic conditions affecting seniors.
Additionally, the World Health Organization recommends that to mitigate inequalities in the healthcare sector, healthcare facilities must adopt and improve provider capacity in underserved regions, more so in remote areas. This implies that by enhancing the number of healthcare providers in underserved communities, many seniors and minority groups, along with people with disabilities, will be able to access quality and patient safety care services. It is also wise to invest in research and interventions to minimize health inequalities as these caregivers provide adequate knowledge and understanding of the causes of disparities (Gómez et al., 2021). This will provide a venue for insight collection and sharing of innovative ideas to promote the implementation of evidence-based interventions.
Ethical Implications of Implementing Suggested Solutions
One of the ethical implications of implementing strategies such as public education to create Awareness is that it may be challenging to offer adequate and uniform public health education about health inequalities to all affected groups. Also, it is challenging to balance individuals’ responsibility and collection action in promoting healthcare equity since, outside healthcare professionals, there is always skepticism concerning strategies aimed at addressing inequalities in healthcare facilities (Benson & Koroshetz, 2022). Also, in a few isolated cases, the creation of public Awareness about inequalities may be associated with challenges, harassment, violence, and derogatory language. This will impact the implementation of public education programs in the management of healthcare disparities.
Conclusion
In summary, healthcare disparities are among the leading causes of premature deaths in the United States and, besides that, affect the public perception of the importance of quality, equitable, and patient-safety healthcare services. Based on these facts, it is imperative to note that as a healthcare professional, this topic is of great concern since by having a better understanding of its causes, impacts, and associated challenges, it becomes easy to make use of available evidence-based interventions to advocate for policy change and implementation of programs that support nurses and empower them mitigate causes of inequities n healthcare sector.
References
Barbel, P. A. (2021). The impact of health literacy on health disparities and health equity. Global Citizenship for Adult Education, 220-230. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003050421-29
Benson, R. T., & Koroshetz, W. J. (2022). Health disparities: Research that matters. Stroke, 53(3), 663-669. https://doi.org/10.1161/strokeaha.121.035087
Gómez, C. A., Kleinman, D. V., Pronk, N., Wrenn Gordon, G. L., Ochiai, E., Blakey, C., Johnson, A., & Brewer, K. H. (2021). Addressing health equity and social determinants of health through Healthy People 2030. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, 27(Supplement 6), S249-S257. https://doi.org/10.1097/phh.0000000000001297
Jack, L. (2021). Advancing health equity, eliminating health disparities, and improving population health. Preventing Chronic Disease, p. 18. https://doi.org/10.5888/pcd18.210264
Levine, R. L. (2021). Healthy People 2030: A beacon for addressing health disparities and health equity. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, 27(Supplement 6), S220-S221. https://doi.org/10.1097/phh.0000000000001409
Sun, S. (2023). Building financial capability and assets to reduce poverty and health disparities: Race/Ethnicity matters. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-023-01648-9
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