A person’s overall health and health outcomes can be affected by nonmedical factors, including the social determinants of health. At the core, social determinants of health are occasioned by disproportionate resource allocation at the global, national, and local levels (Pratt & Hyder, 2017). Therefore, to close the socioeconomic and racial health disparities successfully, the solutions should entail equalizing access to resources. The three main solutions that I would consider is providing more resources to underserved populations, eliminating societal structures, and adopting a health-for-all policy approach.
First, I would advocate for policies that ensure underserved communities have more access to resources, including employment and education opportunities. With the right policies that enhance their economic opportunities, the cycle of disadvantage, poverty, and poor health can be disrupted (Williams, Phillips, & Koyama, 2018). With better education and employment, this population is likely to get proper insurance covers and access to better health.
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Secondly, I would also push for policies that remove structural barriers such as differential access to health care, unequal pay, labor market preferences, lending policies, job segregation, discriminatory incarceration and policing, and stop-and-frisk. These policies will help in addressing the deep-seated systemic issues that prevent racial minorities from accessing better economic opportunities and subsequently persisting the health disparities (Bailey et al., 2017).
Lastly, I would also push for universal healthcare coverage to help attain healthcare equities. Healthcare should be treated as a human right, and every person in the United States deserves quality healthcare. With a universal healthcare system, there would be improved healthcare access for underserved populations (Asaria et al., 2016). This model should ensure there is equity in healthcare coverage, including the use of services and access as well as equal treatment.
Ultimately, closing the socioeconomic and racial health disparity is all about enhancing availability and accessibility to health care, improving the disparities in educational achievement and living standards, and eliminating persistent poverty.
References
Asaria, M., Ali, S., Doran, T., Ferguson, B., Fleetcroft, R., Goddard, M., & Cookson, R. (2016). How a universal health system reduces inequalities: lessons from England. J Epidemiol Community Health , 70 (7), 637-643.
Bailey, Z. D., Krieger, N., Agénor, M., Graves, J., Linos, N., & Bassett, M. T. (2017). Structural racism and health inequities in the USA: Evidence and interventions. The Lancet , 389 (10077), 1453-1463.
Pratt, B., & Hyder, A. A. (2017). Fair resource allocation to Health Research: priority topics for bioethics scholarship. Bioethics , 31 (6), 454-466.
Williams, S. D., Phillips, J. M., & Koyama, K. (2018). Nurse advocacy: adopting a health in all policies approach. OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing , 23 (3).
