Health disparities are preventable variables that reduce the opportunity to receive optimal healthcare by the socially disadvantaged people, especially those from disadvantaged ethnic or racial groups. These factors are often due to social factors such as education, income, ethnicity, gender and age, which results in reduced access to good healthcare services and thus causes a reduction in life expectancy. There is a considerable gap in mortality between white and black people in the US, especially those living in rural areas. People who are less educated are likely to die from colorectal cancer by 65, irrespective of their race (Zavala et al., 2021). In the 20th century, the difference in life expectancy of white and black Americans was 14 years, but this gap has decreased due to improved economic status and access to healthcare. Health disparities also exist in disease burden; for instance, Black and Hispanic people are likely to be affected by asthma compared to other US residents.
A report by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) shows that 1 in 5 US adults have a mental illness, bringing the total number to be 51.5 million people in 2019 (Alvidrez et al., 2019). These mental health disparities are due to unresolved behavioral health issues and childhood trauma. There are mental health disparities between genders, with 16.3% of men having mental illness compared to 24.5% of women. Before introducing the Affordable Care Act (ACA), 1 in 5 Black Americans were not insured compared to 1 in 3 Hispanics who were not insured. This is majorly attributed to the limited expansion of Medicaid coverage by the ACA in those states. In the US, the people who live in rural areas often face difficulties accessing healthcare, especially people from certain ethnic and racial groups with low income. In the rural Appalachian region, there are few specialty physicians and mental health providers compared to the rest of the nation.
References
Alvidrez, J., Castille, D., Laude-Sharp, M., Rosario, A., & Tabor, D. (2019). The national institute on minority health and health disparities research framework. American Journal of Public Health, 109(S1), S16-S20.
Zavala, V. A., Bracci, P. M., Carethers, J. M., Carvajal-Carmona, L., Coggins, N. B., Cruz-Correa, M. R., … & Fejerman, L. (2021). Cancer health disparities in racial/ethnic minorities in the United States. British journal of cancer, 124(2), 315-332.