Abstract
Children’s mental health inequities persist despite efforts to minimize disparity at the global level. The discrepancy can take many forms, including racial and ethnic disparity being one of them. Children’s medical care is discussed in this article concerning some of the significant elements that influence it, as well as some of the current efforts being made to address health inequities among children. An investigation of the presence of psychological inequalities among children is the focus of this work. This research examines the causes that lead to educational disparities and their impact on the academic development of children subjected to them.
Introduction
Children from racial/ethnic minorities are unlikely to obtain high-quality psychological health care than their non-Latino white counterparts, despite the considerable toll that psychological health disorders have on the well-being of children and their families. While this has been an important focus of public health monitoring since 2000 and is still monitored as part of the National Healthcare Gaps Report, it has raised serious concerns about the progress in reducing disparities. The current condition of disparities in pediatric mental health care is discussed in this study, along with the difficulties and potential stumbling blocks that must be overcome to successfully address these disparities. The developmental theory is used as a background for analysis (Jones et al., 2019). First, this paper defines “health disparity.” It describes discrepancies in diagnostic assessment, prevention of psychological problems, needs for mental health care, access to health services, psychotherapy, and pharmaceutical therapies, and treatment outcomes.
Objectives
Although childhood health inequalities have been related to the prevalence of adult health disparities, such as high rates of chronic disease, there has been a shortage of work devoted to developing and testing theoretical models that are particular to childhood health disparities. A systematic evaluation and thematic analysis of previously established models of health inequalities unique to children were carried out to provide direction for formulating a coherent conceptual framework. The study aims to determine and evaluate the degree to which discrimination and inequities in healthcare have contributed to the challenges facing the nation’s healthcare system, with a particular emphasis on the United States.
The main objectives are:
- To be aware of the various forms of prejudice and psychological inequities that have hindered people from obtaining necessary medical care and from having an understanding of how the disparities have impacted society.
- To evaluate how inequalities based on race, class, and gender have contributed to the existence of discrimination and inequities within the healthcare system, it is necessary first to define the nature of these inequalities.
- To determine the state of affairs and the proportion of discrimination and inequities that play a role in the difficulties faced by the healthcare system.
Target Audience
Families experiencing discrimination and psychological health disparities in the pediatric population are the primary target audience of the research. It can effectively assess the community’s needs and involve families in planning and implementing improvement strategies. An examination of the community’s requirements revealed, for instance, that oral health was poor and that it was challenging to locate children’s dentists who took Medicaid (Santana et al., 2021). Through increased access and advocacy efforts, information was passed directly to dentists who were responsible for disseminating the issue. Family advisory committees have been established in several practices and hospitals to provide feedback on care delivery systems (Santana et al., 2021). Such a has become significant in building favorable relationships between providers and the population and contributed to identifying priority areas for interventions.
Strategies
Health disparities are identified through the screening of various vital indicators. This policy highlights the need to address and screen the economic, social, educational, environmental, and individual-capital requirements of families and children during clinic visits as outlined in the AAP. Clinical vital signs, on the other hand, include things like body temperature, pulse rate, respiration rate, blood pressure, and measurements of growth rates. One-stop shopping for new vital signs may be possible with expanding primary and specialty care services. Health results can be improved by integrating services such as mental health (Santana et al., 2021). Using the Healthy Steps approach, a child psychologist or develop mentally is integrated into pediatric practices, resulting in higher levels of parent satisfaction and improvements in well-child care, vaccination and breastfeeding rates, and parenting skills.
Media Vehicles
Mass media campaigns will potentially promote beneficial changes in health-related behaviors across broad pediatric populations or prevent unfavorable changes. Such campaigns will significantly increase the employment of media communications, which are designed to disseminate information to significant segments of huge populations through the regular consumption of pre-existing media such as television, radio, and newspapers (Petkovic et al., 2021). Therefore, being exposed to such signals is typically an inactive process. These efforts frequently face competition from other variables, like pervasive product promotion, significant social norms, and behaviors motivated by addiction or habit.
Theory/Discussion
When evaluating children’s education, one must consider their health an essential factor. This is because the child’s education can either benefit or negatively impact the child’s overall health. It is common knowledge that the standard of medical care in different regions of the world varies significantly from one another (Whitney & Peterson, 2019). A report that was made public called Healthy People 2010 concluded that one of its goals was to help assist in the complete elimination of health disparities between the various parts of society (Petkovic et al., 2021). This report suggested that these differences exist based on gender, race, ethnicity, poverty, education, disability, sexual orientation, or even rural area. As a relevant concept associated with the problem under consideration, the development theory can be presented, which, as Jones et al. (2019) note, reflects the consequences of negative health experiences in childhood in later life. In Table 1, the main disparities are listed along with their consequences.
Table 1. Health disparities.
Outcome Evaluation
Differences and socio-ecological models emphasize the importance of several levels of influence, which is essential. Disparities in pediatrics research and the opportunity for intervention to overcome those disparities are at stake in this matter of crucial importance. Children spend their time in a variety of ways and in various locations. School exposures (and protective variables) for child health disparities have been considerably neglected compared to the explication and understanding of the many aspects of occupational settings on adult health inequalities (Schneider, 2020). The type, intensity, and impact of psychosocial and environmental exposures can differ substantially between the sexes. Health-related behaviors in children and adolescents differ from those in adults, including the environmental, developmental, and social drivers of these behaviors. There are many differences between children’s and adults’ resilience, such as how social networks and social ties influence children’s health (such as their structure, features, and functions) compared to adults. Therefore, there is an opportunity to identify potentially effective measures of how to deal with health disparities in children.
Based on the information in Table 1, one can list the best interventions to address health disparities in children. The conducted research allows for arguing that individual characteristics, such as age, race, or gender, affect the problem to a lesser extent than socio-economic status, educational level (including in parents), and disabilities, particularly mental. Thus, given the strategy of attracting media instruments and utilizing the developmental theory as a background for intervention, relevant recommendations regarding potentially valuable interventions can be compiled in Table 2.
Table 2. Recommendations to address health disparities.
The proposed measures are crucial to include because a wide range of issues can be addressed. Due to the ease of use of digital content, remote interaction with healthcare providers and teachers eliminates any communication barriers. Based on the provisions of the developmental theory, the timely solution to life difficulties is the key to normal life at an older age, which explains the complex nature of the proposed interventions.
Conclusion
Health care disparities based on socio-economic status, poor education, and mental health problems demand prompt action. According to a sizeable portion of the analyzed research, the most significant contributor to these health disparities among children is a lack of educational opportunity. It is necessary to devise a strategy on a national level to bring this subject to the general public’s attention. To progress in addressing the current issues, the proposed intervention measures can be considered to use media resources effectively and address the aforementioned gaps productively.
References
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