There are several factors that contribute to the existence of health disparities. Such factors include, socio-economic factor, geographic location, education, culture, religion-belief system, gender and sexual identity. There are several models that explain disparities in health. (Coreil, 2010) describes several models that explain health disparities. Such models include the racial-genetic model, health behavior model, racial and ethnic model, social-economic model, psychological model and the structural-constructivist model of health.
Geographical location a health disparity, is noticeably observed in the region of sub-Saharan Africa. In Industrialized countries where vaccinations, immunizations, and access to healthcare is more attainable, the prevalence of diseases tend to be less. The risk of dying from malaria is considerably higher in sub-Saharan Africa than other parts of the world for several reasons: transmission of the disease is more intense, the lethal form the malaria parasite -plasmodium falciparum- is more abundant and the region tends to have a weak health system.
Malaria is a disease of poverty, with cases and death disproportionately concentrated in the least developed countries. (The Millennium Development Goals Report, 2009). Growing up a Seventh-day Adventist I now see where this religious belief impacted the health of my grandmother. After learning that her insulin was derived from swine, she simply just stop taking it. One of the Seventh-day Adventist tenets being to abstain from pork or pork-derived products. Another religious group, Jehovah’s Witness, is also known to refuse any blood or blood products.
This group is known to choose death than to accept any lifesaving interventions that pertains to receiving blood in the name of religion Other obvious areas where health disparity is seen is with education and gender. The world continues to progress towards gender parity in education as measured by the ratio of girls ‘2 boys ‘gross enrolment. In the developing regions as a whole, 95 girls were enrolled in primary school for every 100 boys in 2007, compared to 91 in 1999. (The Millennium Development Goals Report, 2009).
The psychosocial stress model sums this by stating that health disparities in terms of structural, interpersonal, and psychological stress experienced disproportionately by members of social disadvantaged groups. Managing the economy crises can be and should be turned into an opportunity to address climate change in a more comprehensive and efficient manner. The continued growth of global emissions confirms that combatting climate change must remain a priority for the world community. (The Millennium Development Goal Report, 2009).
In addressing the focus area of Injury and Violence prevention, it is most important to first address the environment and the actual causes of the sources of pollution. We all have a grave responsibility to protect the ozone layer. In my small but significant way of preventing damage to the ozone layer | lessen my usage of aerosols. In addition, I minimized on cleaning products by only use bleach in the bathroom and kitchen. On a larger scale protected areas are the cornerstones of efforts to conserve the world’s species and ecosystems as well as a key component in climate change mitigation.
Racial-genetic model, health disparities are explained in terms of genetic variations across population. (Coreil, 2010). Because it is known that genetics play a role in predisposing a certain population to certain diseases, people might not seek help for possible signs and symptoms of the onset of a presenting illness. Possible genetics explanations have been offered to account for the higher rates of hypertension and low birth rate among African-American and the higher rate of diabetes among Mexican American population. Coreil, 2010)
I remember working in nursing homes and observing a number of patients admitted being in the advance stages of the disease process. Some effects of the disease were so severe it was hard to comprehend how these patients could have missed it. When asked what took them so long to seek medical interventions, their answers were usually about the same. For example, they relate their reasons for not seeking medical interventions sooner by stating that diabetes or hypertension run in their family so there was nothing to do about.
The health behavior model proposes that health disparities can be attributed to the differences in the prevalence of specific behavioral risks and protective factor for disease, such as moking, diet, exercise, and substance abuse. (Coreil. 2010). This model embraces the health disparity relating to culture. Certain behaviors are synonymous within certain culture. Within the Hispanic population cancer is the leading cause of death. Disparities relative to screening rates, primary therapy, conservative surgical treatment and treatment follow up occur in disproportionate numbers.
Contributing factors include country of origin, language, insurance coverage, income level and cultural perception. (Disparities in Health Care: Hispanic communities). In 2001 Hispanics of all races experienced more aged-adjusted years of potential life lost before age 75years per 1000,000 population than non-Hispanics whites. In other health categories such as tobacco use and exposure to second hand smoke, infant mortality, and low birth weight,
