The term disparity means the state of been different or unequal, and in this case, it means differences, inequity or inequality of health care or health outcomes. If a specific population experiences differences in healthcare outcomes, this means that there exist health disparities in that population or state. One of the health disparities that affect citizens in the USA is race or ethnic background (Weissman, Russell, Jay, & Malaspina, 2018). There exist health disparities for black women in the US. Their health has been seen to be compromised a lot evidenced in maternal health outcomes which are very poor and alarmingly high death rates due to pregnancy or childbirth.
According to the National Center for Health Statistics (2016), 33% of the population of the US which is equivalent to more than a hundred million people belong to a population of an ethnic or racial minority. Black mothers are four times more likely to experience a death due to pregnancy than white mothers. They are also three times more likely to develop tumors or growths in their uterus, fibroids, than white women and these fibroids usually grow more quickly for black women. These black women also show a higher rate of complicated conditions, which include high blood pressure, during pregnancy than white women. Their high exposure to chronic diseases due to socioeconomic disadvantage could bring complications during their pregnancy. In addition to these, hospitals which serve black mothers have high rates of maternal complications compared to other hospitals. There exist higher rates of unwanted pregnancies in black women than in white women whereas the abortion access limited in the black population. This is mostly due to poor access to counseling or contraceptive care to black women.
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There are several social determinants that affect the health of black women in the US. These type of population ought to experience a lot of discrimination in their lives, and health care discrimination is very popular among them. Poverty is one of the main determinants. Studies show that for every dollar paid to a white woman, black women receive only 63 cents displaying a huge gap in salary payment. This, therefore, leaves black women to gamble between basic needs which includes healthcare. Some, therefore, end up lacking proper access to healthcare as shown earlier.
Moreover, many black women are not insured, and this poses a great financial challenge to health care which in turn challenges prenatal care. Since black women are more likely to have chronic diseases, if care is not taken earlier in advance, then this will automatically affect the mother and the child during pregnancy. Other social determinants include unemployment and their residential settlements.
There has however been policies and strategies used to address the health disparity occurring due to race. The policies to be discussed are aimed at improving the maternal health care of black women. One of the policy is to expand and maintain access to health coverage for the black women (Chen, Vargas-Bustamante, Mortensen, & Ortega, 2016). There is a need to expand health coverage for women since women require a lot of health care services throughout their lives. For pregnant women lacking health insurance coverage, they often forego or delay prenatal care and these may lead to complications during pregnancy or deaths . Expanding health coverage would lead to improvement of health outcomes for black mothers whereby they will have free access to quality healthcare.
Another policy is to expand paid family and medical leave. There is a need for black women to acquire paid leaves to take care of their health as well as their families (Belgrave & Abrams, 2016). Back then when the leaves were unpaid, black mothers used to quit their jobs or they were often fired after giving birth. This policy allows them to continue receiving their earnings during leaves to cater for themselves and their families. It is important for black women to live a healthy life and to have proper health care when in need. To reduce or eradicate this health disparity, we need to create change by creating a good environment for the black mothers such as improving access to health care regardless of race, class or background.
References
National Center for Health Statistics (US. (2016). Health, United States, 2015: with special feature on racial and ethnic health disparities.
Weissman, J., Russell, D., Jay, M., & Malaspina, D. (2018). Racial, ethnic, and gender disparities in health care access and use among US adults with serious psychological distress. Psychiatric Services , 69 (5), 517-522.
Chen, J., Vargas-Bustamante, A., Mortensen, K., & Ortega, A. N. (2016). Racial and ethnic disparities in health care access and utilization under the Affordable Care Act. Medical care , 54 (2), 140.
Belgrave, F. Z., & Abrams, J. A. (2016). Reducing disparities and achieving equity in African American women’s health. American Psychologist , 71 (8), 723.
