Introduction
Rational and other forms of discrimination, including ethnic discrimination have been the bane of major political discourse in the history of the United States. The steps that have been gained over the last several years have yielded tremendous success in the recognition of most of the basic rights of the minorities who according to the U.S. Census Bureau (2008) form at least forty percent of the population in the United. However, despite the successes of the human rights activists in ensuring that every citizen is accorded equal rights, the disparities that are still experienced in the provision of health care for the minority groups is appalling and least to say that it is very much common practice within the social settings that these groups find themselves in. The disparities in health care, whether in matters to do with access, insurance coverage or about the quality of care given to the sick, still pose a challenge to the authorities both at the political level and at the policy-making levels. Eliminating these disparities are challenging to the political class and the policy makers since they are as a result of long-held traditions and beliefs that have been carried over the centuries about race and its imminent relation in the history and the making of America as a country and a society.
According to the US population census conducted in 2008, the total population consisted of approximately 304 million people, of which 33% or approximately more than 100 million people identified themselves as a racially or ethnically minority. Of the 33%, there are about four general categories of minorities that are recognized in the United States; the African American, Hispanics (or Latinos), Asians and the Pacific Islanders, and the Native Americans (DeNavas-Walt, Proctor, & Smith, 2013).
Demographics and Health Status of African Americans
Currently, African Americans are the largest minority group in the United States. The presence of a diversified grouping within the community is less overt as compared to the other minority groups as a result of the effects of homogenizing over the long-standing presence of the African – American population in America (OMH, 2012). An estimated one-third of the population live below the poverty level, and the rate of unemployment levels within this community remain as high as twice that of the majority whites for the past five decades. Despite these difficulties faced by the minority group, the number of middle-class African American has substantially increased in the turn of the millennium thereby contributing to at least improved livelihood as compared to the early years of the 20th century.
The Mortality rates among the community remain higher as compared to the national average as well as the other minority groups. Moreover, the possibility of an African American adult to suffer from a chronic disease remains high at approximately 51 percent, against a national average of 45 percent. Although the consensus is that cases about the rise of chronic illnesses increases with the age of an individual across all the groups, albeit with the older members of the African Americans having a slight rates of suffering from chronic diseases by their 50th birthdays. For this minority group, the likelihood of being diagnosed with various ailments such as high blood pressure, diabetics, asthma, cancer and heart ailments are at above the national averages. According to the Healthy People 2020, 33 percent of African Americans are diagnosed with high blood pressure compared with a national average of 23 % of the adult population. Moreover, African Americans were less likely to approve the rating of their health status as excellent or very good, at 41 percent of those polled agreeing to access to better health care as compared to 55% percent of their white counterparts (Bonhomme, 2004)
Health Promotion Defined by the African Americans
As much as the minority group still faces challenges in the clamor to have equal health care treatment, they have initiated a number of health promotional practices with their communities in order to highlight the various health issues that affect them. Chief among these health promotion prevention strategies is the Primary prevention. Primary prevention technically deals with the prevention of the occurrence of the various ailments through the initiation of a number of intervention programs (Potvin, 2015).
Although a large number of factors play a center stage in the high rate of mortalities experienced among the African American minority groups, such as lack of adequate education, unhealthy behavioral tendencies, and barrier to access to health-related information, the determination is great. The intervention strategies created have centered on the promotion of information concerning health matters to the community members through health awareness promotion fairs. These fairs have opened up the knowledge levels in the communities and created chances for them to identify the needs for screening and other interventions measures that have helped most of the members make informed health choices.
Health Disparities That Exist For the African Americans
The commonly reported cases of health disparities among the African Americans are often in ailments such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer and HIV and Aids. Mortality rates among those suffering the illnesses are reported to be more than 40 percent of the African Americans than the national average in the case of heart diseases. The death rates reported as a result of cancers is at 30 percent higher for the African American minorities as compared to the national rate of 25%. HIV and Aids stand at more than seven times as compared to that of the white population (Bach, 2003).
Conclusion
The belief is that how the minority group of the African Americans defines the health concerns that affect their community in essence does not offer the community a framework on how they achieve and construct different solutions to the problems that they face. The primary health care solutions lie in the way the community respond to the challenges of discrimination and see themselves in the bigger picture of the American national healthcare program offered by the Obama administration. History has shown that the experiences of the community has been that characterized by adaptation to the various circumstances, and surviving them all, be it hostile political environment, social settings, and economic surroundings. This resourcefulness of the African Americans and the discernment towards the various forms of discrimination will be the same one that will reverse the tenacious nature of discrimination and disparity towards healthcare by the community.
References
Bach, P. B. (2003). Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care. New England Journal of Medicine, 349(13), 1296-1297. doi:10.1056/nejm200309253491321
Bonhomme, J. J. (2004). The health status of African-American men: improving our understanding of men’s health challenges. The Journal of Men's Health & Gender, 1(2-3), 142-146. doi:10.1016/j.jmhg.2004.07.004
DeNavas-Walt, C., Proctor, B. D., & Smith, J. C. (2013). U.S. Census Bureau Report “Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2012”. U.S. Department of Commerce Economics and Statistics Administration. doi:10.4135/9781483345727.n895
OMH.(2012). Home Page - Office of Minority Health (). Retrieved from http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/templates/content.aspx?ID=3017
Potvin, L. (2015). Promoting health and equity: a theme that is more relevant than ever. Global Health Promotion, 22(1), 3-5. doi:10.1177/1757975915570519
