We know they exist, but what exactly are they and what can we do as future/current healthcare providers to eliminate them?
𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐓𝐇 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐄𝐒: Higher burden of disease, injury, disability, or mortality experienced by one group relative to another.
𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐓𝐇𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐄𝐒: Differences in health insurance coverage, access to/use of care, and quality of care between two groups.
Heath and health care disparities are commonly linked to race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, age, location, religion, mental health, gender, sex, disability status, and sexual orientation.
Below I have listed data complied from multiple studies from 2017-2018 comparing disparities of specifically Black Americans as compared to Non-Hispanic Whites.
𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐒
-Higher percentage of uninsured pts
-Higher percentage report fair/poor health
-Higher rate of obesity in women
-Higher rate of asthma in children
-Higher rate of hypertension
-Less likely to receive mental health services
-Lower rate of prescription meds for mental health
-Highest mortality rate for all cancers combined
-Almost 2x the rate of infant deaths
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2020/05/07/484742/health-disparities-race-ethnicity/
𝐒𝐎 𝗪𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝗪𝐄 𝐃𝐎 𝐀𝐒 𝐀 𝐅𝐔𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄/𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐓𝐇𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐕𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐒?
-Recognize our implicit biases and work to resolve them
-Recognize and eliminate barriers to care
-Provide high quality patient education
-Volunteer in clinics that serve the underserved
-Take courses to educate ourselves (medical Spanish, public health, CMEs, etc.)
-Read a book on health disparities (@scrubsandshiz has compiled a list)
-Get involved in research and/or policy creation
I'm currently working through a FREE 9 hr CME activity titled, "𝐀 𝐏𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐧'𝐬 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞." I'd love for you guys to join me! (LINK IN MY BIO)
All my public health friends out there... help me out! What can we be doing as healthcare providers to combat these disparities?
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