Health Promotion in Minority Populations
Health promotion is the act of enabling individuals to improve and have more control over their health. The united states have a diverse group of individuals from various ethnicity and races. About 36% of the population belongs to the ethnic and racial minority group based on the census done in 2010. All the races and the ethnic group have different health concerns, and this can be due to the diversity that exists in genetics, access to health care, cultural factors, and environmental factors. However, infant mortality has significantly improved, and most Americans live a healthier life with a longer lifespan. This paper will be based on African American’s health status.
Describe the Ethnic Minority Group Selected and their Current Health Status of this Group. How do Race and Ethnicity Influence Health for This Group
African American is one of the largest ethnic minority group that accounts for about 12.7% of the total population in the United States. Analysis that was done recently has indicated that most of the health conditions that African Americans have or die of are those that are found in the older white Americans. The differences in the conditions or the deaths that are experienced by African Americans are seen between the ages of 20-40 years. There are some of the terms that were found to be higher in black Americans than the whites, for example, cancers, asthma, pneumonia, heart conditions, and influenza.
However, most of the individuals in the ethnic group report inability to afford the health services and therefore, they are unable to go for screening services which then results in too late diagnoses of health problems and delayed treatment of the conditions. For this ethnic group, there is a high possibility to find individuals with serious health complications and thus more suffering resulting from disease comorbidities, this might also result in death. There is also a close association to retain between the African American and low levels of participation in health promotions for example dieting and exercising; this contributes significantly to the generally reduced levels of health among individuals in the ethnic group as compared to the whites.
The Health Disparities That Exist for African Americans and the Nutritional Challenges for This Group
According to Healthy People 2020, health disparities are defined as a health difference that has a close association with economic, social, and environmental disadvantages. Individuals who have challenges in accessing better health care needs based on their ethnic group, age, gender, socio-economic status, religion, mental health; sensory, cognitive or physical disabilities are adversely affected by health disparities. Geographic location and other factors that contribute to exclusion. In 2015, the private insurance coverage for the African American was at 54.4% as compared with the whites at 75.8%. On the other hand, 43.6% of the blacks and 32.7% of the whites relied on Medicaid. However, 11.0% of the blacks were uninsured compared to 6.3 among the whites
African Americans have cultural, economic, political, racial struggles, and despite all this, they can maintain a strong sense of their culture, shown by their kind of food. The typical diet that is commonly consumed by African Americans is meat, yams, potatoes, and rice. The main nutritional challenges among this ethnic group are the high consumption of vegetables than meat and thus low levels of proteins.
The Barriers to Health for This Group Resulting From Culture, Socioeconomic, Education, and Sociopolitical Factors.
Barriers to health have a significant impact on the well-being and the health of African Americans. Unhealthy behaviors and lifestyle such as cigarettes smoking, inadequate exercising, and obesity have been closely associated with this ethnic group due to the low social, economic status. It is not common among those in high socio-economic status. The African American has a low level of education, and they have poor knowledge of susceptibility to diseases and the impact it has on their lives. They also have inadequate disease preventive measures as well as adherence to treatments. Individuals in this ethnic group have a high rate of unemployment and low-income status, which then limits them to have better access to health care services because of the high cost of health services. Other barriers affecting this ethnic group is poor access to healthy diet and discrimination from the social support systems and some of the health care staff.
Health Promotion Activities That are Often Practiced by African Americans
The most common health promotional activities that are practiced by this group are walking, biking, swimming, and change of diets. Improvements in the quality of life are always necessary to promote individual well-being, and due to this, African Americans have conducted educational services to support the need for healthy and safe habits, for example, eating, and avoidance of smoking and regular exercising. Routine vaccination is also being carried out to reduce the cases of infectious diseases. The changes are significantly thought to be due to social developments programs and participation of the African Americans in policy making as well as an economic investment in education.
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 African Americans and why it Might be the Most Effective Choice.
For this minority group, the most critical health promotion prevention is tertiary prevention because of its ability to maintain the disease process. The most effective way to reduce the health issues among this group is to have regular doctor visits, proper diet, adherence to treatment, exercise, education on health issues and their health status, availability of sound support system and involvement in the decision making. People in the ethnic group can be involved in annual physical activities, which are well organized and must include other services such as monitoring for blood pressure. Those who get diagnosed with hypertension are closely monitored in collaboration with health home care team to initiate lifestyle changes such as a reduction in consumption of sodium and checking of weight together with the use of medication to ensure that it is in control. By doing this, it can reduce the risk significantly for getting strokes.
Cultural Beliefs or Practices Must be Considered When Creating a Care Plan and Cultural Theory, or Model Would be Best to Support Culturally Competent Health Promotion for This Population
A care plan needs to be culturally sensitive as well as addressing the needs of the people from the ethnic group. Individuals from the African American ethnic group’s values family and therefore, the care that is provided by the health care team should involve the family members of the client to improve on the patient outcome. Family-centered care is critical when caring for people from African American ethnicity. The family-centered care is a theory which sometimes is referred to as patient-family-centered care, and it involves a partnership between the health care team and the family of the client. The family provides support to the client, and they are also involved in the decision making of the client when the need is necessary where the client cannot be able to make informed decisions. Other roles of the family members are to provide care during the illness an also aid in teachings concerning self-care and wellness behaviors. They also play a crucial role in health-promoting activities including ensuring the clients adhere to medication or treatments that are recommended by the health care team
References
Healthy People 2020. (n.d.). Retrieved June 10, 2019, from https://www.healthypeople.gov/
Minority Health and Health Equity - CDC. (n.d.). Retrieved June 10, 2019, from http://www.cdc.gov/minorityhealth/index.html
Office of Minority Health. (n.d.). Retrieved June 10, 2019, from https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/
Programs. (n.d.). Retrieved June 10, 2019, from http://www.samhsa.gov/specific-populations/racial-ethnic-minority
Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) | At A Glance Reports | Publications |Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion | CDC. (n.d.). Retrieved June 10, 2019, from http://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/publications/aag/reach.htm
