Health Disparities in Mississippi Essay

People experience health disparities in various ways. A health disparity is defined as a specific kind of health discrepancy which results from environmental, economic, and social disadvantages (Healthy People 2020). Most of the people affected by health disparities are those who experience discrimination on account of their gender, race, religion, age, socioeconomic status, cognitive ability among other historical characteristics associated with discrimination. This essay presents an intervention policy that addresses a health disparity in the Mississippi community. The issue is breast cancer. According to information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), breast cancer is a major cause of cancer-related deaths among women aged above 45 in the US. Health disparities make the situation even worse. This makes it a cause for concern.

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Breast cancer affects both men and women though it is more prevalent in women. It is a disease that can easily cause death if it is not diagnosed and treated at its early stages. Although both black and white women in the US are reported to seek breast cancer screening at almost equal rates, black women are 40% more likely to die of breast cancer than their white counterparts (Yedjou et al., 2017). Mississippi is no exception. This disparity is mainly caused by variations in screening, follow-up, and treatment (CDC). This is an unfortunate turn of events, considering that both black and white women coexist in Mississippi. Therefore, an intervention program would be very useful in addressing this disparity to reduce the breast cancer-related deaths among black women.

To address the disparity in breast cancer diagnosis and treatment in the Mississippi community, a hybrid program that integrates both community and clinical approaches may be appropriate. This is because the issue to be addressed are both social and biological. Social determinants of health include socioeconomic status and poverty while biological determinants may include genetic predispositions (Mayfield Johnson et al., 2016). Some of the proposals that have been made to address the health disparities include the transformation of the healthcare, advancement of scientific knowledge, innovation and health safety, and strengthening the nation's health workforce and infrastructure with the intention of enhancing accountability and efficiency (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). However, these proposals may not work with the desired universality to produce positive results. Therefore, a tailored program that incorporates all the health determinants in the community is workable. The following decision diagram will apply to the program.

The population most affected by health disparities in Mississippi is the African-American women. Although these women go for breast cancer screening as often as their white counterparts do, there is little dedication to their treatment thus the mortality rates are higher among the black cancer patients, at 40% than the white ones (Center for Disease Control and Prevention). The best intervention to mitigate this situation is the hybrid program in which both clinical and community settings are considered. The approach is advantageous in that clinically, it is community centered. This means that the clinical approaches are specifically centered on the particular community's needs. Over 25% of African American women, especially in rural Mississippi, live in poverty (Mayfield Johnson et al., 2016). Poverty is a major social determinant of health. Therefore, a hybrid approach would help address both the socioeconomic status and clinical needs of these women.

The decision tree was very helpful in coming up with the health equality program because it first helped me in identifying the main obstacles to equal access to health care in America. First, it helped me recognize that both clinical and community settings highly determine the level of disparities in the Mississippi health care system. In my community, for example, many of the black women are not involved in any economic activity. This makes most of them unable to access quality healthcare. Even after being diagnosed with breast cancer early enough, it takes quite a while before they begin treatment (Mayfield Johnson et al., 2016). Follow-up is usually not given priority due to discrimination, and ignorance reigns supreme. This explains why more black women are likely to die from breast cancer although more white than black women are diagnosed with the disease.

Conclusion

According to the decision tree, the community environment needs to be tailored to address the health disparity by focusing on economic empowerment, advocating for improved social status, addressing local factors, and educating the local community to enhance awareness on breast cancer; its dangers, diagnosis, and treatment. These strategies are highly likely to lead to more enhanced follow-up upon diagnosis thus improved healthcare, fewer disparities and fewer mortalities among the African American women. On the same note, the clinical environment needs to be furnished with adequate funding for research and other relevant activities, competent staff that can offer quality services, and the required facilities. The two settings will then be intertwined to provide a system that will meet the needs of the black women in Mississippi, and this will lead to the elimination of health disparities in the community. With such programs, the disparities in healthcare in Mississippi is likely to be addressed.

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Breast Cancer. Available at https://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/breastcancer/Healthy People 2020. Washington, DC.

Mayfield-Johnson, S., Fastring, D., Fortune, M., & White-Johnson, F. (2016). Addressing breast cancer health disparities in the Mississippi Delta through an innovative partnership for education, detection, and screening. Journal of community health, 41(3), 494-501.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Healthy People 2020: Rockville, MD. Available at: www.healthypeople.gov. Koh, HK. A 2020 Vision for Healthy People. New England Journal of Medicine. 2010; 362: 1653-1656.

Yedjou, C. G., Tchounwou, P. B., Payton, M., Miele, L., Fonseca, D. D., Lowe, L., & Alo, R. A. (2017). Assessing the racial and ethnic disparities in breast cancer mortality in the United States. International journal of environmental research and public health, 14(5), 486.