Introduction
African Americans, Hispanics, and Pacific Islanders Americans are some of the leading minority groups in the United States. According to Barr (27), these minority groups have experienced huge health disparities. The quality of healthcare services that they receive is much lower than what the majority of Whites receive within the country. In terms of health disparity, these three populations have a number of factors in common. The first factor is the number of people who have private health insurance plans besides what is offered by the government. According to Edberg (35), most of the minority groups, especially the African Americans, Hispanics, and Pacific Islanders, do not have private insurance plans that can enable them to visit some of the top private hospitals in the country. The majority of people in these three groups wholly rely on the health insurance plan that is offered by the federal government. It means that when they become sick, they just have to visit public hospitals where their bills will be taken care of by the government’s health insurance policy. Most of them cannot afford the cost of healthcare services offered in some of the best hospitals such as John Hopkins Hospitals. The low quality of service they receive in these public hospitals makes them more likely to succumb to their health complications than those who are able to get the best services from private hospitals.
A critical analysis of the patterns of death, especially based on the leading causes of death, shows that African Americans, Hispanics, and Pacific Islanders share a number of factors. In these three populations, heart disease and cancer are the leading causes of death. These are diseases that can be successfully managed if they are diagnosed early enough. Unfortunately, the majority of people from these three populations always detect these life-threatening diseases at advanced stages where very little can be done to spare their lives. Unlike most of the Whites who go for regular medical check-ups as required by their private health insurers, most of these minority groups rarely go for medical tests unless they develop medical conditions that may require medical attention. This means that when they start developing cancer or heart diseases, they may not detect it until such a time that the symptoms start to show. Diseases such as cancer will have their symptoms pronounced in the body at very late stages in life. It is also easy to ignore heart diseases when they are at the early stages of development. That is why the rate of survival against these diseases among these minority groups is lower than the majority Whites.
The major cause of death for each population
It is clear from the discussion above that African Americans, Hispanics, and Pacific Islanders Americans share a number of factors in terms of health disparities. However, it is important to note that there are specific health facts that make them different. One of them is the leading cause of death among these three populations. According to Gao (76), cancer remains the leading cause of death among Hispanics, accounting for 20.7% of all deaths. Most of the Hispanics succumb to cancer majorly because of late diagnosis. When the disease is diagnosed at the terminal stages very little can be done to save the lives of such patients. In such cases, the patients are put under care to ensure that they are subjected to minimal amounts of pain and psychological suffering after being informed that their conditions are terminal. In what LaVeist (35) calls providing dignity in the face of death, the patients are offered regular counseling and medication to ease their physical and psychological pains. The cancer problem is also a major issue among Pacific Islanders. According to Barr (41), among Pacific Islanders Americans, the leading cause of death is cancer, accounting for about 27.1% of all deaths recorded among this group. Just like the Hispanics, late diagnosis has been blamed as the leading reason why a number of cancer cases among this group always lead to death.
Among African Americans, the leading cause of death is cardiovascular disease which accounts for 24.1% of all deaths among this group. According to Edberg (75), obesity has been a major issue among African Americans. Research by Gao (86) shows that over 56.6 % of all African Americans are either overweight or obese. The research further paints a grimmer picture about African American women where it is estimated that 4 in every 5 of them are either overweight or obese. Extreme cases of obesity among African American population are estimated to be 12%. It is important to note that obesity in itself is not a major leading cause of death among this population. However, it is the main cause of the major killer disease that affects this population. Cardiovascular disease, which accounts for the highest percentage of deaths among African Americans, is closely associated with obesity. According to LaVeist (53), most African Americans do not have access to some of the best physical fitness services used by the Whites that can help combat heart diseases. The problem of late detection of this disease makes it difficult to manage it successfully.
The population that has experienced the greatest health disparities in the United States
According to Barr (63), most of the minority groups in the United States have experienced some form of health disparities in one way or the other. However, the worst cases of disparity according to a recent report by the Center for Disease Control and Management have been experienced among African Americans. The report looked at a number of areas of health and the report was startling. In the United States, infant mortality rates have gone down considerably over the last four decades. However, African American infants are still twice as more likely to die than Whites. This is majorly attributed to poor maternal healthcare, lack of adequate medical check-ups, and many other health-related issues. Heart disease is a common problem in the United States affecting people across all groups. However, African Americans are 40% more likely to die from this disease than Whites.
The same case has been witnessed when it comes to cancer, another major killer in the United States. Members of this minority group are 30% more likely to succumb to this disease than the Whites. This is a worrying statistic. Even more worrying is the fact that prostate cancer is more than twice more likely to kill African Americans than Whites. Women of this minority group are also more likely to develop breast cancer than their White counterparts. The most worrying statistics are homicide and HIV/AIDS as some of the major causes of death. According to Barr (97), African Americans are six times more likely to die of homicide than Whites. The rate of death from HIV/AIDS among African Americans is seven times higher than that of the Whites within this country. It is also important to note that the health disparity between the richest African Americans and the poorest African Americans is also very huge.
According to Edberg (113), a number of factors have led to this great health disparity among African Americans. The main problem has been discrimination. Most of the African Americans who came to the United States before its independence were slaves. They came to this country to work for the wealthy Whites. During this period, they were treated as properties that lack some of the fundamental rights enjoyed by the Whites. In modern American society, African Americans are still seen as second-class citizens who cannot have the same opportunities in the country as their White counterparts. The discrimination against members of this group has made it difficult for them to get decent jobs similar to what the Whites have. It means that most of them are relatively poorer compared to the rest of the population. In the United States, just like in any other part of the world, quality healthcare services are available in the best private hospitals. It means that only the rich who can afford to pay for these services can access them.
The poor African Americans who work as casual laborers in the industrial sectors or house helps cannot afford to pay for the healthcare services offered at some of the top hospitals such as Mayo Clinic. The poor living standards among this group make it difficult for them to concentrate on maintaining a healthy lifestyle. They spend most of their time struggling to make ends meet. They fight to get the basics. They do not have time to go to hospitals for medical check-ups unless they start experiencing serious medical problems. Poverty, coupled with low educational achievements among this group, has led to a number of irresponsible behaviors among this group. That is why they have recorded the highest rates of HIV/AIDS and incidences of homicide. The frustrations in life and the feeling that they lack a sense of belonging in their own country are majorly blamed for such reckless lifestyles among this group.
The population that has experienced the least health disparities in the United States
The Pacific Islanders, just like many other minority groups in the United States, have also experienced some form of health disparities in this country. However, theirs can be described as the least health disparity when compared to the other two groups that have been discussed in this paper. In fact, Gao (113) says that the Islanders have performed fairly well in terms of access to medical facilities, early detection of a number of life-threatening diseases, and management of chronic diseases. It is only in a few areas such as cervical cancer, hepatitis, and tuberculosis that they have performed dismally compared to the Whites. It is only a small section of the Pacific Islanders that have recorded below-average performance in various health indexes, notably the Vietnamese women. The main reason why this minority group has not suffered as much as other groups such as African Americans is that they have not been subject to massive discrimination. Most of them have attractive disposable income that enables them to be responsible for their health and wellness.
Measures to affect change in the health disparities of these populations
Health disparity in the United States is a real problem that needs a proper solution in order to curb it. According to LaVeist (90), this problem has been ignored for a very long time, and it is getting worse as time goes by. It is worrying that African American is seven times more likely to die of HIV/AIDS than Whites. To get a lasting and sustainable solution, society needs to eliminate discrimination based on racial lines. The United States of America can achieve greater success if all its citizens work together as one in fighting some of the challenges affecting their society. Denying a section of the society quality health care services because of their skin color should stop. The minorities, especially the African Americans, should be financially and intellectually empowered. They should have the financial capacity to pay for some of the most important medical procedures that can help them overcome delicate health conditions. They also ought to know more about HIV/AIDS. They should know its causes and how to manage it in case one becomes negative. Above all, these minorities should be treated as rightful members of this society to help fight despair and recklessness among this population because this is one of the major issues making them pay very little attention to their health. To achieve success, all Americans irrespective of their leadership positions should take part in fighting stigma.
References
Barr, Donald. Health Disparities in the United States: Social Class, Race, Ethnicity, and Health. London: McMillan, 2014. Print.
Edberg, Mark. Essentials of Health, Culture, and Diversity: Understanding People, Reducing Disparities. Burlington: Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2013. Print.
Gao, Yong. Differential Item Functioning Analysis of Physical Activity Disparities in the United States. New York: Cengage, 2008. Print.
LaVeist, Thomas. Minority Populations and Health: An Introduction to Health Disparities in the United States. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2013. Print.