Assignment: Health Promotion in Minority Populations
Assignment: Health Promotion in Minority Populations
Select an ethnic minority group that is represented in the United States (American Indian/Alaskan Native, Asian American, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander). Using health information available from Healthy People, the CDC, and other relevant government websites, analyze the health status for this group.
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In a paper of 1,000-1,250 words, compare and contrast the health status of your selected minority group to the national average. Include the following:
Describe the ethnic minority group selected. Describe the current health status of this group. How do race and ethnicity influence health for this group?
What are the health disparities that exist for this group? What are the nutritional challenges for this group?
Discuss the barriers to health for this group resulting from culture, socioeconomics, education, and sociopolitical factors.
What health promotion activities are often practiced by this group?
Describe at least one approach using the three levels of health promotion prevention (primary, secondary, and tertiary) that is likely to be the most effective in a care plan given the unique needs of the minority group you have selected. Provide an explanation of why it might be the most effective choice.
What cultural beliefs or practices must be considered when creating a care plan? What cultural theory or model would be best to support culturally competent health promotion for this population? Why?
Cite at least three peer-reviewed or scholarly sources to complete this assignment. Sources should be published within the last 5 years and appropriate for the assignment criteria and public health content.
Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
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Health Promotion in Minority Populations
African Americans form part of the ethnic minorities in the US. African Americans experience a wide range of issues that affect their utilization of healthcare services in the state. Therefore, this essay examines various issues related to the health of African Americans in the US. They include the description of their health status, disparities in health, and barriers to health, health promotion practices, and cultural values, beliefs, and practices that influence their uptake of healthcare services.
Description of the Selected Ethnic Minority
The selected ethnic minority for this research paper is African American population. The US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health reports that 41.4 million people in the US were African Americans in 2017. They represented about 12.7% of the whole population of the state. The African Americans are considered the second largest ethnic minority population after the Hispanic/Latino population. The educational attainment of the African Americans is low when compared to that of other ethnicities. In 2017, 86.0% of African Americans aged above 25 years had at least high school diploma when compared to 92.9% in the non-Hispanic white population. The life expectancy in this population is also lower when compared to the other populations. For instance, their life expectancy in 2015 was 76.1 years while that of non-Hispanics was 79.8 years. The mortality rate due to conditions such as asthma, cancer, heart disease, and diabetes among others in African Americans is also higher when compared to other ethnicities (US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, 2017). Therefore, the African Americans are more vulnerable to health issues affecting them adversely when compared to other populations.
Health Disparities
As revealed above, there exist significant health disparities in African Americans when compared to other ethnicities. The African Americans have a high mortality rate due to diseases such as asthma, heart disease, and cancer when compared to other ethnicities. African Americans have 30% increased risk of dying prematurely from heart disease when compared to the whites. They are also twice at a risk of dying prematurely from stroke than the whites. The rate of homicide-related deaths is also highest in African American men (4.5%) when compared to 2.5% in American Indian men (Baciu et al., 2017). There is also the evidence of disparities in the rate of insurance coverage between African Americans and other ethnicities. For example, about 55.5% of non-Hispanic blacks utilized private insurance coverage in 2017 when compared to 75.4% of the non-Hispanic whites. In addition, 43.9% of the non-Hispanic blacks relied on public health insurance or Medicaid when compared to 33.7% in the non-Hispanic whites. Overall, 9.9% of the non-Hispanic blacks were uninsured in 2017 when compared to 5.9% in the non-Hispanic whites (US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, 2017). Consequently, significant disparities exist in this ethnic group.
Nutritional Challenges
Evidence reveals that most of the African Americans experience significant nutritional challenges as evidenced by the high rate of obesity and its associated complications in this population. According to a research by Kolahdooz et al., (2016), African American children have inadequate dietary practices. They have increased intake of energy dense nutrient foods, more meals and snacks that are not prepared at home, and eat large portion sizes. The children also have a habit of high intake of soft drinks with low intake of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. African Americans in general also have the cultural practice of consuming soul food that has high fat content such as meat. According to Kris‐Etherton et al., (2020), African Americans have poorest diet score when compared to individuals from other ethnicities in the state. The poor score in dietary habits could be attributed to socioeconomic influences such as employment status and household income.
Barriers to Health for the Group
African Americans experience significant barriers to health in the US. One of them is the influence of cost. Most of the African Americans experience significant barriers in accessing the care they need due to high cost of care. The lack of medical insurance coverage in a majority of this population makes it hard for them to afford the care that they need. The other barrier is patient-provider relationship. It is reported that African Americans have poor relationship with their providers of healthcare. Often, they report minimal satisfaction with the care they receive, which minimize their ability to seek healthcare in the future. There is also the influence of education. A higher level of education is associated with better employment opportunities and affordability of quality healthcare. Educational attainment among African Americans is lower than the national average, which implies their difficulties in accessing and utilizing the care that they need.
The other barriers to health in African American populations include cultural and linguistic differences, medical mistrust, fatalism, and fear towards the safety, effectiveness, and quality of conventional methods of healthcare (Williams et al., 2020). There is also the influence of additional factors such as racial discrimination, poverty, environmental exposures, and lack of access to the available healthcare services for this population (Noonan et al., 2016). Despite being affected disproportionately by different health problems and experiencing significant disparities in health, African Americans engages in a number of health promotion activities for their health. They include the utilization of the available primary health services, screening for different health problems, and exploration of healthy lifestyles and behaviors that promote their health (Hubley & Copeman, 2018).
Health Promotion Approach Effective for the Group
One of the primary health promotion approaches that is likely to be the most effective for the African Americans is health education. Health education is important for lifestyle and behavioral change in a population. It raises the level of awareness among the populations at risk concerning the health effects of their lifestyles and behaviors. It is projected that a raise in the level of awareness among the population will result in a transformation of their lifestyles and behaviors. African Americans should be provided with health education on various issues affecting their health. They include their high predisposition to diseases such as cancer and heart disease and the need for their lifestyle and behavioral modification. Health education is also important in making them understand the importance of practices such as screening and having a medical insurance coverage (Hubley & Copeman, 2018). Therefore, health education is needed in this population for the other interventions of health promotion to be effective.
Cultural Beliefs, Practices and Theory
African Americans have a number of cultural beliefs that should be incorporated into the plans of care. African Americans are highly religious and spiritual. Care should therefore ensure that their religious and spiritual needs of the African Americans are promoted. African Americans are also belief in the effectiveness of complementary and alternative medicines in the management of their conditions. It is important for the nurses and other healthcare providers to educate them on the importance of conventional medicines in promoting their recovery from a disease. An effective cultural theory that can be used to promote the health of African Americans is the transcultural theory by Madeleine Leininger. The theory advocates the need nurses providing culturally appropriate care to their patients (Hubley & Copeman, 2018). They achieve this by striving to understand the diverse patient needs, practices, and values that influence health. The plans of care should ensure that the diverse cultural practices are respected in the provision of care.
Conclusion
Despite being the second largest ethnic minority, African Americans experience significant challenges related to health in America. They experience worse health outcomes when compared to other ethnicities. They also have significant disparities and barriers to healthcare when compared to other ethnicities. The provision of care to individuals from this ethnic background should therefore aim at addressing the disparities in health and barriers to healthcare. Their diverse cultural values and practices should also be respected.
References
US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health (2017). Profile: Black/African Americans. Retrieved from https://www.minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=3&lvlid=61
Baciu, A., Negussie, Y., Geller, A., Weinstein, J. N., & National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2017). The state of health disparities in the United States. In Communities in action: pathways to health equity. National Academies Press (US).
Kolahdooz, F., Butler, J. L., Christiansen, K., Diette, G. B., Breysse, P. N., Hansel, N. N., … & Sharma, S. (2016). Food and nutrient intake in African American children and adolescents aged 5 to 16 years in Baltimore City. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 35(3), 205-216.
Hubley, J., & Copeman, J. (2018). Practical health promotion. John Wiley & Sons.
Kris‐Etherton, P. M., Petersen, K. S., Velarde, G., Barnard, N. D., Miller, M., Ros, E., … & Shay, C. (2020). Barriers, Opportunities, and Challenges in Addressing Disparities in Diet‐Related Cardiovascular Disease in the United States. Journal of the American Heart Association, 9(7), e014433.
Noonan, A. S., Velasco-Mondragon, H. E., & Wagner, F. A. (2016). Improving the health of African Americans in the USA: an overdue opportunity for social justice. Public health reviews, 37(1), 1-20.
Williams, J., Tucker, C. M., Wippold, G., Roncoroni, J., Moutinho, M. E., Lee, S., … & Ateyah, W. (2020). Impact of a Health Empowerment-focused Program on Adult Employee’s Motivators of and Barriers to Engaging in Healthy Behaviors. American Journal of Health Education, 51(3), 169-178.
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