Differing races and ethnicities experience old age differences. According to Ferraro et al. (2017), since health is an invaluable resource for optimal aging, racial and ethnic disparities in health lead to poor health outcomes among races in the United States. The case of African Americans will be analyzed in this case. The American Psychological Association (APA) projects that there are more than four million African Americans aged above sixty five years in the United States. However, as compared to their White counterparts, African Americans in advanced age experience serious health disparities (APA, 2020). First, they have higher predisposition to chronic diseases. Higher predisposition means that in average, they have to spend more on health as compared to Whites in similar age group. The burden of disease on specific diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, cancer, stroke and dementia remains high among African Americans (APA, 2020). Life expectancy is therefore low among African Americans since they have to cope with a huge burden of disease that is not the case with their White and Latino counterparts.
Access to health care services lead to differing experience during old age. According to Noonan, Velasco-Mondragon & Wagner (2016), there are several systemic causes that lead to suboptimal health among Blacks in the United States. Noonan et al. (2016) further argue that African Americans remain the least healthy ethnic group in the United States. Health outcomes reflected on the whole Black population is reflected on the health outcomes among the aging. It means that if African Americans are the least healthy group in the United States, their population aged above 65 years will have poorest health outcomes in the country. There are several hypotheses to explain the poor health outcomes. First, Blacks faced many socioeconomic challenges after United States attained her independence. While the rest of the population took off to address other issues such as unemployment and literacy levels, Blacks were struggling with slavery. It is only after the Civil War and passing of the 14 th and 15 th Amendment that they started receiving some rights. More than 200 years after independence, Blacks were still struggling with issues of inclusion and racial discrimination. The disparities reported are due to the challenges they have faced over the years and which continue affecting them since they report higher levels of poverty and unemployment and score poorly on medical insurance coverage. A poor health outcomes among the aging population in the African American population are a reflection of the challenges they have faced over the years in the social, economic and political spheres.
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In chapter 2, the author states that the age range between 55-64 years old showed the greatest increase based on a 2007 U.S. Census Bureau survey (p. 41). This means that the aging population continues rising due to improved approaches in the overall U.S. health care system. It is important ensuring that all groups have optimal health outcomes to reduce the current disparities. According to Menkin et al. (2017), the perceptions regarding aging differ among ethnic groups. The perceptions and expectations differ based on the security an individual has on their advanced age. With focus on African Americans, a huge section works in non-stable work environment where they are not secured a good security fund after retiring. As active working years come to an end paving way to aging, anxiety may increase since the individuals are not sure they will manage the huge financial burden that comes with the burden of disease in advanced age. However, with laws like the Affordable Care Act, the government is ensuring that disparities in health are reduced by providing health insurance to all citizens regardless of their socioeconomic status. The government is reducing the burden of disease on affected groups and in the process optimizing their health outcomes for a healthier nation.
References
Ferraro, K. F., Kemp, B. R., & Williams, M. M. (2017). Diverse Aging and Health Inequality by Race and Ethnicity. Innovation in Aging, 1 (1). https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igx002
Menkin, J. A., Guan, S. A., Araiza, D., Reyes, C. E., Trejo, L., Choi, S. E., Willis, P., Kotick, J., Jimenez, E., Ma, S., McCreath, H. E., Chang, E., Witarama, T., & Sarkisian, C. A. (2017). Racial/Ethnic Differences in Expectations Regarding Aging Among Older Adults. The Gerontologist , 57 (suppl_2), S138–S148. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnx078
The American Psychological Association. (2020). African Americans older adults and race- related stress. How aging and health-care providers can help. https://www.apa.org/pi/aging/resources/african-american-stress.pdf
