Braveman (2014) noted that health disparities primarily refer to the inequalities that impede the provision and access to better health care among people from different ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic backgrounds. It, therefore, means the population-based differences in disease presence, access to health care, and outcomes. Some of the factors that result in health disparities include poverty, inadequate access to health care, educational inequalities, and environmental threats amongst others. Diversity, on the other hand, refers to the provision of care services that meet the demands of patients from different racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and cultural groups. It involves tailoring healthcare services to address the diverse needs of both the majority and minority groups (Meyer, Yoon, & Kaufmann, 2013).
Diversity and health disparities are two interrelated subjects. The lack of diversity in a healthcare setting likely leads to health disparities since differences will occur in how different groups are treated. The two terms play a significant role in the process of health program planning and evaluation (Seeleman, 2014). The health programming process involves creating an outline of activities and events aimed at meeting the goals of the healthcare organization. When creating a program plan, diversity should be at the helm of the process. The healthcare organization should prepare itself to tackle different diverse groups of patients by implementing favorable policies such as employing health workers from different racial and ethnic backgrounds. A successful health program planning and evaluation should focus on improving the health of every member of society. In this regard, it must outline the need to improve disparities among different populations. The cultural diversity of the population means that the people come from different cultural backgrounds (Diller, 2013). Such a scenario can effectively affect the planning-evaluation cycle. A planning process involves formulation, conceptualization, detailing, evaluation, and finally implementation (Issel, & Wells, 2017). Therefore, the planning and evaluation process must take cognizance of the need to solve the diverse requirement of various cultural groups. The formulation of policies should meet cultural sensitivity while the evaluation and implementation process should involve the input of these diverse groups.
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References
Braveman, P. (2014). What are health disparities and health equity? We need to be clear. Public Health Reports , 129 (1_suppl2), 5-8.
Diller, J. (2013). Cultural diversity: A primer for the human services . Nelson Education.
Issel, L. M., & Wells, R. (2017). Health program planning and evaluation . Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Meyer, P. A., Yoon, P. W., & Kaufmann, R. B. (2013). Introduction: CDC Health Disparities and the Inequalities Report-United States, 2013. MMWR supplements , 62 (3), 3-5.
Seeleman, M. C. (2014). Cultural competence and diversity responsiveness: how to make a difference in healthcare? Universiteit van Amsterdam.
