Download or read book Unequal Treatment written by Institute of Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2009-02-06 with total page 781 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Racial and ethnic disparities in health care are known to reflect access to care and other issues that arise from differing socioeconomic conditions. There is, however, increasing evidence that even after such differences are accounted for, race and ethnicity remain significant predictors of the quality of health care received. In Unequal Treatment, a panel of experts documents this evidence and explores how persons of color experience the health care environment. The book examines how disparities in treatment may arise in health care systems and looks at aspects of the clinical encounter that may contribute to such disparities. Patients' and providers' attitudes, expectations, and behavior are analyzed. How to intervene? Unequal Treatment offers recommendations for improvements in medical care financing, allocation of care, availability of language translation, community-based care, and other arenas. The committee highlights the potential of cross-cultural education to improve provider-patient communication and offers a detailed look at how to integrate cross-cultural learning within the health professions. The book concludes with recommendations for data collection and research initiatives. Unequal Treatment will be vitally important to health care policymakers, administrators, providers, educators, and students as well as advocates for people of color.

Download or read book Communities in Action written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2017-04-27 with total page 583 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

Download or read book Understanding Racial and Ethnic Differences in Health in Late Life written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2004-09-08 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the population of older Americans grows, it is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse. Differences in health by racial and ethnic status could be increasingly consequential for health policy and programs. Such differences are not simply a matter of education or ability to pay for health care. For instance, Asian Americans and Hispanics appear to be in better health, on a number of indicators, than White Americans, despite, on average, lower socioeconomic status. The reasons are complex, including possible roles for such factors as selective migration, risk behaviors, exposure to various stressors, patient attitudes, and geographic variation in health care. This volume, produced by a multidisciplinary panel, considers such possible explanations for racial and ethnic health differentials within an integrated framework. It provides a concise summary of available research and lays out a research agenda to address the many uncertainties in current knowledge. It recommends, for instance, looking at health differentials across the life course and deciphering the links between factors presumably producing differentials and biopsychosocial mechanisms that lead to impaired health.

Download or read book Critical Perspectives on Racial and Ethnic Differences in Health in Late Life written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2004-10-16 with total page 753 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In their later years, Americans of different racial and ethnic backgrounds are not in equally good-or equally poor-health. There is wide variation, but on average older Whites are healthier than older Blacks and tend to outlive them. But Whites tend to be in poorer health than Hispanics and Asian Americans. This volume documents the differentials and considers possible explanations. Selection processes play a role: selective migration, for instance, or selective survival to advanced ages. Health differentials originate early in life, possibly even before birth, and are affected by events and experiences throughout the life course. Differences in socioeconomic status, risk behavior, social relations, and health care all play a role. Separate chapters consider the contribution of such factors and the biopsychosocial mechanisms that link them to health. This volume provides the empirical evidence for the research agenda provided in the separate report of the Panel on Race, Ethnicity, and Health in Later Life.

Download or read book Perceived Racism and Trust in Health Care written by Sara N. Sayre and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 149 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Disparities in healthcare are a significant social problem affecting millions of racial and ethnic minorities in the United States. The sources of health disparities are many and range from institutional barriers, provider influences, and even patient factors (Smedley, et al., 2003). In comparison to research on provider contributions to health disparities, there is far less research on patient factors (Bird & Bogart, 2001; Smedley et al., 2003). The purpose of this study was to further examine patient-level factors which may be related to disparities in health care. Specifically, this study focused on how medical mistrust, perceived racial discrimination, and perceived health care specific discrimination were related to African Americans' intentions to seek medical help. A primary purpose of this study was to better understand how medical mistrust relates to intentions to seek help. African Americans' health care behavior was examined within the theoretical framework of the Behavioral Model for Vulnerable Populations (BVMP), in which, medical mistrust functions as a predisposing factor in the process of health services use (Gelberg, Andersen, & Leake, 2000). In addition to using the structure of the BMVP to examine the variables of interest, multiple additional explanatory models were utilized to gain a better understanding how these variables of interest relate to one another, and to determine if medical mistrust may function as a mediator between experiences of discrimination and intentions to seek medical help. The sample included 322 participants who identified as Black/African American. Participants completed an anonymous survey which included demographic questions and 46-items assessing the constructs of perceived racial discrimination, perceived health specific racial discrimination, mistrust of the medical system, and intentions to seek medical help. Consistent with hypotheses, perceived racial discrimination, perceived health care specific racial discrimination, and medical mistrust were significantly negatively related to intentions to seek medical care. Hierarchical regression and path analysis were used to test four explanatory models of relationships among the primary variables of interest. Results indicated support for the Partially Mediated Model where medical mistrust functions as a mediator between discrimination, both within and outside the health care system, and intentions to seek medical help.

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Stigma Discrimination and Health written by Brenda Major and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018 with total page 577 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stigma leads to poorer health. In The Oxford Handbook of Stigma, Discrimination, and Health, leading scholars identify stigma mechanisms that operate at multiple levels to erode the health of stigmatized individuals and, collectively, produce health disparities. This book provides unique insights concerning the link between stigma and health across various types of stigma and groups.

Download or read book Perceived Healthcare Discrimination written by Sarah Gioia and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Background. The lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) community faces a variety of health disparities, including higher rates of substance use, anxiety, and depression. These health disparities may be explained by discriminatory health care, but little research has studied LGBQ patients' experiences of discrimination and subsequent impacts on health. Methods. To better understand the healthcare experiences of LGBQ adults, an online survey was launched among a national sample of 1,000 participants; inclusion criteria included an age 18-40, an identity as LGBQ, and one or more U.S. healthcare visits in the past two years. The resulting sample was mostly comprised of cisgender women (n = 655), most aged 25 or younger, with a majority reporting a bisexual identity (64%). Results. Among the total sample (n =1000), 79.1% reported any experiences with perceived discrimination. Those reporting discrimination believed it was due to their age (n = 270), sexual orientation (n = 224), gender identity (n = 178), race/ethnicity (n = 173), or weight (n = 172). Among the cisgender women subsample (n = 655), those reporting higher perceived discrimination in healthcare reported worse adherence to medical advice (aRR = 0.83, CI = 0.73-0.95) and higher rates of delayed care (aRR = 1.13, CI = 1.03-1.24). Perceived discrimination was also associated with increased symptoms of depression (aRR = 1.24, CI = 1.12-1.36), stress (aRR = 1.29, CI = 1.19-1.40), and anxiety (aRR = 1.44 CI = 1.31-1.57); however, perceived discrimination was not significantly associated with general health. Across all genders (n = 1000), some differences in reports of discrimination were detected. First, self-identified Black participants reported a higher frequency of perceived discrimination in healthcare than their White counterparts (aRR = 1.08, CI = 1.01-1.16) and Hispanic/ Latino participants reported more frequent discrimination than non-Hispanic Latino participants (aRR = 1.10, CI = 1.03-1.18). However, no differences were detected when comparing cisgender men to cisgender women, nor when comparing cisgender and transgender participants. Individuals with multiple marginalized identities did not report statistically different rates of discrimination compared to those with fewer marginalized identities. Also counter to expectations, perceived discrimination in healthcare did not meaningfully predict general health, nor did the importance of one's racial/ethnic status to their self-identity moderate this association. Finally, within the subsample of cisgender women (n = 655), the Discrimination in Medical Settings scale -- a commonly used measure of perceived discrimination -- demonstrated unidimensionality and strong internal consistency ([alpha] = 0.87), validating its use within this population. However, counter to hypotheses, this instrument did not demonstrate incremental predictive validity over a shorter, one-item instrument in explaining the variance in general health. Discrimination -- regardless of the measure -- explained very little variance in general health; rather, structural influences, such as age and income, greatly improved the model's predictive power. Implications. Perceived discrimination in healthcare harms the mental health and well-being of LGBQ adults, though it is a weak predictor of one's overall health; this underscores the need to address structural sources of discrimination amongst this population, rather than a singular focus on interpersonal discrimination. With regard to interpersonal discrimination in healthcare, a multi-pronged approach is needed to prevent these experiences. This includes the passage and enforcement of anti-discrimination legislation, cultural competency training within medical school, and a culturally diverse medical workforce to ensure better care for LGBQ patients.

Download or read book Self Social Identity and Physical Health written by Richard J. Contrada and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1999-03-04 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite tremendous progress in understanding the human body as a biological mechanism, researchers are finding that many aspects of physical health are strongly linked to a person's thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, and to features of the sociocultural environment. This interdisciplinary volume, the newest in the Rutgers Series on Self and Social Identity, provides a survey of this research, emphasizing the connections between health and an individual's sense of self. Drawing on psychology, sociology and anthropology, the collection examines the health-related effects both of broad social forces and of individual experiences. Part I examines the diverse systems involved, moving from the biological and psychological systems in the individual to such societal systems as language, politics, economics, and health care. Part II focuses on stress and emotion and includes an extensive discussion of race related stress and of the beneficial effects of disclosing and talking about individual traumatic events. Part III addresses health in the context of personality and development, proposing a multilevel view of personality and describing the emergence of sexual identities during adolescence. The final part then looks at the other side of the self-health relationship by examining the effects of illness on one's sense of self. As a whole, the collection provides a wide ranging survey of existing work on how self and health are linked and is a valuable source of ideas for future research.

Download or read book Social Epidemiology written by Lisa F. Berkman and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2000-03-09 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book shows the important links between social conditions and health and begins to describe the processes through which these health inequalities may be generated. It reviews a range of methodologies that could be used by health researchers in this field and proposes innovative future research directions.

Download or read book Socially Perceived Race Perceived Healthcare Discrimination and Preventive Health Service Utilization written by Tracy St. Louis MacIntosh and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Sociocultural and Historical Contexts of African American English written by Sonja L. Lanehart and published by John Benjamins Publishing. This book was released on 2001-10-10 with total page 391 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume, based on presentations at a 1998 state of the art conference at the University of Georgia, critically examines African American English (AAE) socially, culturally, historically, and educationally. It explores the relationship between AAE and other varieties of English (namely Southern White Vernaculars, Gullah, and Caribbean English creoles), language use in the African American community (e.g., Hip Hop, women’s language, and directness), and application of our knowledge about AAE to issues in education (e.g., improving overall academic success). To its credit (since most books avoid the issue), the volume also seeks to define the term ‘AAE’ and challenge researchers to address the complexity of defining a language and its speakers. The volume collectively tries to help readers better understand language use in the African American community and how that understanding benefits all who value language variation and the knowledge such study brings to our society.

Download or read book Healthism written by Jessica L. Roberts and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2018-11-15 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines when and why discrimination based on health status - or 'healthism' - should be allowed, and when it should not.

Download or read book Stigma Discrimination and Living with HIV AIDS written by Pranee Liamputtong and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-04-22 with total page 425 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Up until now, many articles have been written to portray stigma and discrimination which occur with people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in many parts of the world. But this is the first book which attempts to put together results from empirical research relating to stigma, discrimination and living with HIV/AIDS. The focus of this book is on issues relevant to stigma and discrimination which have occurred to individuals and groups in different parts of the globe, as well as how these individuals and groups attempt to deal with HIV/AIDS. The book comprises chapters written by researchers who carry out their projects in different parts of the world and each chapter contains empirical information based on real life situations. This can be used as an evidence for health care providers to implement socially and culturally appropriate services to assist individuals and groups who are living with HIV/AIDS in many societies. The book is of interest to health care providers who have their interests in working with individuals and groups who are living with HIV/AIDS from a cross-cultural perspective. It will be useful for students and lecturers in courses such as anthropology, sociology, social work, nursing, public health and medicine. In particular, it will assist health workers in community health centres and hospitals in understanding issues related to HIV/AIDS and hence provide culturally sensitive health care to people living with HIV/AIDS from different social and cultural backgrounds. The book is useful for anyone who is interested in HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination in diverse social and cultural settings.

Download or read book Measuring Racial Discrimination written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2004-07-24 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many racial and ethnic groups in the United States, including blacks, Hispanics, Asians, American Indians, and others, have historically faced severe discriminationâ€"pervasive and open denial of civil, social, political, educational, and economic opportunities. Today, large differences among racial and ethnic groups continue to exist in employment, income and wealth, housing, education, criminal justice, health, and other areas. While many factors may contribute to such differences, their size and extent suggest that various forms of discriminatory treatment persist in U.S. society and serve to undercut the achievement of equal opportunity. Measuring Racial Discrimination considers the definition of race and racial discrimination, reviews the existing techniques used to measure racial discrimination, and identifies new tools and areas for future research. The book conducts a thorough evaluation of current methodologies for a wide range of circumstances in which racial discrimination may occur, and makes recommendations on how to better assess the presence and effects of discrimination.

Download or read book The Role of Chronic Illness Perceived Control Social Support and Healthcare Discrimination in Mental Wellbeing and Alternative Healthcare written by Kimberly Renee Barber and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Exploring Four Barriers Experienced by African Americans in Healthcare written by and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 59 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For many health conditions, African Americans bear a disproportionate burden of disease, injury, death, and disability compared to European Americans. African Americans also use health services less frequently than do European Americans and this underuse of services contributes to health disparities in the United States. Studies have shown that some disparities are present not as a result of poor access to care, but, to a certain extent, as a result of the experiences patients have at their doctors' offices. It is, therefore, essential to understand African American patients' perspectives and experiences with healthcare providers. Past studies have shown that four barriers affect the quality of patient-provider relationships for African Americans: perceived discrimination, medical mistrust, race discordance, and poor communication. The studies, however, have not looked at how these barriers manifest when African Americans speak about their perspectives and experiences with health care providers. This project was a secondary data analysis of qualitative data provided by adult African American community members from Portland, Oregon with diabetes or hypertension or both, each of whom participated in one of 10 focus groups. The focus groups were conducted as part of a study that applied community based participatory research (CBPR) principles to understand patients' experiences with their doctors. Using a deductive approach, this analysis enhanced the understanding of how the barriers play a role in patient-provider relationships. Further, the analysis showed how the barriers are interrelated. In learning African American patients' experiences and perspectives on these four key barriers, the investigator proposes recommendations for healthcare providers as to how they can best deliver quality care for African Americans.

Download or read book Investing in the Health and Well Being of Young Adults written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2015-01-27 with total page 431 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Young adulthood - ages approximately 18 to 26 - is a critical period of development with long-lasting implications for a person's economic security, health and well-being. Young adults are key contributors to the nation's workforce and military services and, since many are parents, to the healthy development of the next generation. Although 'millennials' have received attention in the popular media in recent years, young adults are too rarely treated as a distinct population in policy, programs, and research. Instead, they are often grouped with adolescents or, more often, with all adults. Currently, the nation is experiencing economic restructuring, widening inequality, a rapidly rising ratio of older adults, and an increasingly diverse population. The possible transformative effects of these features make focus on young adults especially important. A systematic approach to understanding and responding to the unique circumstances and needs of today's young adults can help to pave the way to a more productive and equitable tomorrow for young adults in particular and our society at large. Investing in The Health and Well-Being of Young Adults describes what is meant by the term young adulthood, who young adults are, what they are doing, and what they need. This study recommends actions that nonprofit programs and federal, state, and local agencies can take to help young adults make a successful transition from adolescence to adulthood. According to this report, young adults should be considered as a separate group from adolescents and older adults. Investing in The Health and Well-Being of Young Adults makes the case that increased efforts to improve high school and college graduate rates and education and workforce development systems that are more closely tied to high-demand economic sectors will help this age group achieve greater opportunity and success. The report also discusses the health status of young adults and makes recommendations to develop evidence-based practices for young adults for medical and behavioral health, including preventions. What happens during the young adult years has profound implications for the rest of the life course, and the stability and progress of society at large depends on how any cohort of young adults fares as a whole. Investing in The Health and Well-Being of Young Adults will provide a roadmap to improving outcomes for this age group as they transition from adolescence to adulthood.