Many people suffer from chronic diseases, which is a common phenomenon nowadays. Chronic illnesses can vary from diabetes to asthma and significantly impact a person’s everyday life. Regularly individuals are unaware of having any kind of chronic disease, and they spend a decent time of their lives without knowing about it. However, some population groups are affected more than others to the particular health problems. The race or ethnicity minorities of the population may be at the higher explosion to the different chronic diseases due to numerous factors such as genetics or discrimination. Therefore, this paper aims to evaluate the black population of New York state affected by hypertension and analyze the reasons behind it and the interventions to improve the health outcomes.
One of the high-risk groups most affected by chronic high blood pressure is African Americans. Hypertension was initially a widespread issue all over the United States, but the black population has the highest rates of dealing with the illness. They can get hypertension at a young age, especially those children who also suffer from obesity. However, specific risk factors exist that influence the appearance and the development of hypertension and might cause complications of the physical state. Regarding sex, men are the ones who tend to get hypertension more often than women. At the elderly age, both female and male individuals tend to be at a higher risk, especially if they smoke, lead an inactive lifestyle, and overuse alcohol (Mills et al., 2020). In addition, more narrow-focused factors such as pregnancy, family history disease, or second type o diabetes may result in high blood pressure.
Besides all the fundamental characteristics, the black population experience additional causes of hypertension, which make them a high-risk segment. Its reasons may consist of the genetic features and their socioeconomics position in society. Considering their biological background, black people tend to be overweight and have sensory blood vessels (High blood pressure and African Americans, 2022). Nevertheless, socioeconomic reasons are the most influential in this case and intensify already existing conditions. Black population compared to the white live in the greater stress resulting from the difficulties of getting a well-paid job, existing in poverty, and having a household in the dangerous criminal districts (Clark et al., 2019). Therefore, African Americans have fewer opportunities to get a quality education, lead a healthy lifestyle, and access medical care and information (Howard et al., 2018). Moreover, because of all the factors, many black people are unaware of having the disease or its danger to their health, and as a result, they do not take any measures.
In the different regions of the United States, indicators of hypertension prevalence vary significantly. New York state’s counties illustrate the distinction between the counties. Many African Americans live in the Monroe and Westchester counties, and Monroe county portrays a greater level of hypertension prevalence among the black population than Westchester, resulting in the indicator differences. The crucial social determinants such as quality of life, income, and unemployment determine the outcome of the prevalence in the two compared areas. Monroe county has higher adult smoking and obesity indexes than Westchester (New York, 2022). It also shows a higher percentage of excessive drinking and fewer possibilities for physical activity, resulting in a poor physiological state (New York, 2022). In addition, Westchester demonstrates noticeably lower statics regarding the socioeconomic factors, and its unemployment rate is less than Monroe’s (New York, 2022). Children who live in a poor household in Westchester represent 10% of the population which is almost two times lower than Monroe county (New York, 2022). Thus, some social determinants lead to disparities in the health conditions of the black communities.
In order to improve the situation with the healthcare and decrease the negative outcomes for the group at high risk, several decisions were implemented. Firstly, the initial cause of this is racial discrimination, limited access to medical resources, and crisis in public health. Consequently, the primary focus should be on the social and cultural factors in the first place. One of the efficient approaches is to spread awareness among the community and educate black people about the issue.
Several electronic and online services help people get information on health issues, particularly hypertension. For instance, websites such as the website Medicare.gov allow individuals to easily find healthcare institutions near their homes and choose from those who provide more affordable services and consultations (Find and Compare Nursing Homes, Hospitals and Other Providers Near You, 2022). Nurses are also the ones who contribute to the spread of health literacy by informing the patients about the diagnosis, causes, and treatment (Loan et al., 2018). Those who work in schools can promote knowledge among the children and teenagers, which positively affect their lives and prevent them from negative outcomes. Another way that helps to improve the medical care regarding hypertension is the cooperation with the community partners, particularly those involved in the healthcare (Ferdinand et al., 2020). Their investment and work regarding technologies and health promotion among community cities such as supermarkets or barbershops reduce the risk factor.
Overall, the black population is more affected by hypertension than the white due to some biological but mainly social factors such as poverty, lack of education, and unemployment. Racial discrimination is a huge factor that puts African Americans at high risk and exposes them to chronic disease. However, with the help of informational electronic sources and the cooperation inside of the community by providing access and the knowledge about the high blood pressure helps to lower the number of risk factors.
References
Clark, D., Colantonio, L. D., Min, Y. I., Hall, M. E., Zhao, H., Mentz, R. J.,… & Muntner, P. (2019). Population-attributable risk for cardiovascular disease associated with hypertension in black adults. JAMA cardiology, 4(12), 1194-1202.
Ferdinand, D. P., Nedunchezhian, S., & Ferdinand, K. C. (2020). Hypertension in African Americans: advances in community outreach and public health approaches.Progress in cardiovascular diseases, 63(1), 40-45. Web.
Find and Compare Nursing Homes, Hospitals and Other Providers Near You. Medicare.gov. Web.
High blood pressure and African Americans. Stanford Children’s Health. Web.
Howard, G., Cushman, M., Moy, C. S., Oparil, S., Muntner, P., Lackland, D. T.,… & Howard, V. J. (2018). Association of clinical and social factors with excess hypertension risk in black compared with white US adults. Jama, 320(13), 1338-1348.
Loan, L. A., Parnell, T. A., Stichler, J. F., Boyle, D. K., Allen, P., VanFosson, C. A., & Barton, A. J. (2018). Call for action: Nurses must play a critical role to enhance health literacy. Nursing Outlook, 66(1), 97-100.
Mills, K. T., Stefanescu, A., & He, J. (2020). The global epidemiology of hypertension. Nature Reviews Nephrology, 16(4), 223-237.
New York. County Health Rankings & Roadmaps. Web.