Perspective: The Spectrum of Health-care Disparities in the USA

Author(s):  
Thomas A. LaVeist
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Oladunni ◽  
Max Denis ◽  
Esther Ososanya ◽  
Joseph Adesina

This work focuses on a time series analysis and forecast of COVID 19. Decision makers and medical providers will find the work useful in improving cares to the disadvantaged demography, reduce the spread of the coronavirus and improve mitigation strategy to combat the impact of the disease. Our anatomy of COVID cases spans March 2020 to December 2020. COVID 19 forecasting cases and deaths models were built for the total population and blacks in eight states in the USA. State with medium to large populations of blacks were considered for the experiment. We defined COVID-19 Health Care Disparity (CHCD) as the difference between the percentage of Black Cases to Total Cases and Black Deaths to Total Deaths within a period. We hypothesized that a disparity exists if the ratio of black cases to the total COVID-19 population in a state, is less than the ratio of black deaths to the total deaths in the same state. The outcome of our experiment shows that there exists COVID-19 Health Care Disparity in the black community. Furthermore, all things being equal, our forecast suggests that the COVID-19 Health Care Disparities will continue at least till the end of the first quarter of 2021.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Gao ◽  
Yan Cui

A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-20480-x


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 704-704
Author(s):  
Yuchi Young ◽  
Barbara Resnick

Abstract The world population is aging. The proportion of the population over 60 will nearly double from 12% in 2015 to 22% in 2050. Global life expectancy has more than doubled from 31 years in 1900 to 72.6 years in 2019. The need for long-term care (LTC) services is expanding with the same rapidity. A comprehensive response is needed to address the needs of older adults. Learning from health systems in other countries enables health systems to incorporate best long-term care practices to fit each country and its culture. This symposium aims to compare long-term care policies and services in Taiwan, Singapore, and the USA where significant growth in aging populations is evidenced. In 2025, the aging population will be 20% in Taiwan, 20% in Singapore and 18 % in the USA. In the case of Taiwan, it has moved from aging society status to aged society, and to super-aged society in 27 years. Such accelerated rate of aging in Taiwan is unparalleled when compared to European countries and the United States. In response to this dramatic change, Taiwan has passed long-term care legislation that expands services to care for older adults, and developed person-centered health care that integrates acute and long-term care services. Some preliminary results related to access, care and patterns of utilization will be shared in the symposium. International Comparisons of Healthy Aging Interest Group Sponsored Symposium.


2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-63
Author(s):  
Angela Makris ◽  
Mahmooda Khaliq ◽  
Elizabeth Perkins

Background: One in four Americans have a disability but remain an overlooked minority population at risk for health care disparities. Adults with disabilities can be high users of primary care but often face unmet needs and poor-quality care. Providers lack training, knowledge and have biased practices and behaviors toward people with disabilities (PWD); which ultimately undermines their quality of care. Focus of the Article: The aim is to identify behavior change interventions for decreasing health care disparities for people with disabilities in a healthcare setting, determine whether those interventions used key features of social marketing and identify gaps in research and practice. Research Question: To what extent has the social marketing framework been used to improve health care for PWD by influencing the behavior of health care providers in a primary health care setting? Program Design/Approach: Scoping Review. Importance to the Social Marketing Field: Social marketing has a long and robust history in health education and public health promotion, yet limited work has been done in the disabilities sector. The social marketing framework encompasses the appropriate features to aligned with the core principles of the social model of disability, which espouses that the barriers for PWD lie within society and not within the individual. Incorporating elements of the social model of disability into the social marketing framework could foster a better understanding of the separation of impairment and disability in the healthcare sector and open a new area of research for the field. Results: Four articles were found that target primary care providers. Overall, the studies aimed to increase knowledge, mostly for clinically practices and processes, not clinical behavior change. None were designed to capture if initial knowledge gains led to changes in behavior toward PWD. Recommendations: The lack of published research provides an opportunity to investigate both the applicability and efficacy of social marketing in reducing health care disparities for PWD in a primary care setting. Integrating the social model of disability into the social marketing framework may be an avenue to inform future interventions aimed to increase health equity and inclusiveness through behavior change interventions at a systems level.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tsion Zewdu Minas ◽  
Maeve Kiely ◽  
Anuoluwapo Ajao ◽  
Stefan Ambs

Abstract Cancer health disparities remain stubbornly entrenched in the US health care system. The Affordable Care Act was legislation to target these disparities in health outcomes. Expanded access to health care, reduction in tobacco use, uptake of other preventive measures and cancer screening, and improved cancer therapies greatly reduced cancer mortality among women and men and underserved communities in this country. Yet, disparities in cancer outcomes remain. Underserved populations continue to experience an excessive cancer burden. This burden is largely explained by health care disparities, lifestyle factors, cultural barriers, and disparate exposures to carcinogens and pathogens, as exemplified by the COVID-19 epidemic. However, research also shows that comorbidities, social stress, ancestral and immunobiological factors, and the microbiome, may contribute to health disparities in cancer risk and survival. Recent studies revealed that comorbid conditions can induce an adverse tumor biology, leading to a more aggressive disease and decreased patient survival. In this review, we will discuss unanswered questions and new opportunities in cancer health disparity research related to comorbid chronic diseases, stress signaling, the immune response, and the microbiome, and what contribution these factors may have as causes of cancer health disparities.


2021 ◽  
pp. 100036
Author(s):  
Jessica Hill ◽  
Darlene Xiomara Rodriguez ◽  
Paul N. McDaniel

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