Tackling Heart Problems in African Americans: Non-profit Solutions - Essay Sample

Introduction

This paper will discuss the health disparity and non-profit organization and provide an overview of a program that the organization can use to deal with the disparity, explain the health problem including its social determinants and finally, present the expected outcomes of the recommended program.

Identification of Health Disparity and Non-Profit Organization

The health disparity selected to be discussed in this paper is the heart problems in African Americans. The non-profit selected to undertake the recommended program of reducing heart problems disparity is the American Heart Association (AHA). The AHA funds heart problems research, educates its clients, and provides appropriate cardiac care interventions to minimize deaths caused by stroke and cardiovascular disease.

The Program Overview

Although heart problems are deadly and more prevalent in African Americans, they do not need to worry as it is preventable (Thornton et al., 2016). With the right interventions in place, AHA can successfully manage heart complications. To prevent and manage this problem among African Americans and reduce the disparity that already exists, AHA will need to have health awareness programs meant specifically for African Americans. Health awareness programs should be meant to make the community understand the causes of heart problems such as smoking, stress, and other risk factors like diabetes, obesity, and high blood pressure. Some of these social determinants of heart complications are avoidable, and with the right approach, AHA can enable the African Americans to lead a healthy diet, stop smoking, and, most importantly, avoid stress, which results in high blood pressure that causes heart disease and stroke.

The Problem Explained

Heart problem is the leading killer of people in the United States. This is a shocking statistic considering there are many other deadly infections in the country. However, research has indicated that African Americans have a higher chance of developing heart complications than other races (Daniel et al. (2018). According to the Office of Minority Health, African Americans are 40% of having high blood pressure, and they are also less likely to have the high blood pressure under control compared to the white people and other races in the country. According to research, in 2017, African Americans were 20% more likely to die from heart diseases than White people (Neumar et al., 2015). Another research further indicated that African American women are 60% developing heart complications compared to white women who are not Hispanic (Havranek et al., 2015). Therefore, the prevalence of heart problems from those infected to those who die from it is higher in African Americans than any other race in the United States.

Social Determinants of Heart Problems among African Americans

There are three main social determinants that can be used to explain why African Americans are likely to develop heart problems more than other races. According to Kreatsoulas and Anand (2010), these social determinants of heart problems include high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity. Research shows that the prevalence of hypertension among African Americans is highest in the US (Cigna, 2016). It usually increases the risk of heart disease and stroke, and it can even cause permanent damage to the heart. Evidence indicates that black people have a gene that is more sensitive to salt and increases the risk of high blood pressure, which lead to heart problems (Noonan et al., 2016). Diabetes increases the risk of heart disease, and studies have suggested that African Americans are more likely to be diabetic compared to whites (Kreatsoulas and Anand, 2010). Another risk factor is obesity as obese people need more supply of blood and nutrient in their bodies. More blood pressure is needed, and the high blood pressure causes heart attack, which is common in obese persons. African Americans are more likely to be obese than whites. According to Singh et al. (2017), 63% of men aged 20 years and above are obese, while 77% of black women of the same age are obese. The three risk factors explain why African Americans have a higher risk of developing heart disease and other complications than other races.

The Expected Outcome

Health systems have neglected African Americans, and therefore, there very few programs that are meant to address health issues facing them. This has led to a poor relationship between the African American community and the health care professionals. The creation of awareness and health education is important in dealing with any health issue (Daniel et al. (2018). Having health education programs meant for African Americans to fight for heart problems will enable AHA to deal with the problems as many African Americans develop the condition due to lack of information, which results from the poor relationship they have with healthcare professionals. The program will make the African American community have trust in health professionals and seek health assistance more frequently making to certain complications causing heart problems to be noticed early, and be intervened.

Conclusion

Although Black people in the United States have a long history, they remain neglected by health systems due to various reasons. Black people in the United States experience significant health disparities and one of these is heart problems. African Americans are more likely to experience heart complications than other races. The good thing is that it can be prevented and managed with the right programs like the one discussed in this paper.

References

Cigna, (2016, April 12), Health Disparities, African-American or Black Population. Medium. https://www.cigna.com/static/www-cigna-com/docs/health-care-providers/african-american-health-disparities.pdf

Daniel, H., Bornstein, S. S., & Kane, G. C. (2018). Addressing social determinants to improve patient care and promote health equity: an American College of Physicians Position Paper. Annals of Internal Medicine, 168(8), 577-578. https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/full/10.7326/m17-2441

Havranek, E. P., Mujahid, M. S., Barr, D. A., Blair, I. V., Cohen, M. S., Cruz-Flores, S., & Rosal, M. (2015). Social determinants of risk and outcomes for cardiovascular disease: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation, 132(9), 873-898. https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/cir.0000000000000228

Kreatsoulas, C., & Anand, S. S. (2010). The impact of social determinants on cardiovascular disease. Canadian Journal of Cardiology, 26, 8C-13C. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2949987/#:~:text=The%20socioeconomically%20disadvantaged%20groups%20have,formal%20education%2C%20and%20reduced%20access

Neumar, R. W., Eigel, B., Callaway, C. W., Estes III, N. M., Jollis, J. G., Kleinman, M. E., & Sendelbach, S. (2015). American Heart Association response to the 2015 Institute of Medicine report on strategies to improve cardiac arrest survival. Circulation, 132(11), 1049-1070. https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000233

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), 12. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40985-016-0025-4

Office of Minority Health. (2020). Heart Disease and African Americans. https://www.minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=4&lvlid=19

Singh, G. K., Daus, G. P., Allender, M., Ramey, C. T., Martin, E. K., Perry, C., & Vedamuthu, I. P. (2017). Social determinants of health in the United States: addressing major health inequality trends for the nation, 1935-2016. International Journal of MCH and AIDS, 6(2), 139. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5777389/

Taylor, L. A., Tan, A. X., Coyle, C. E., Ndumele, C., Rogan, E., Canavan, M., ... & Bradley, E. H. (2016). Leveraging the social determinants of health: what works?. PloS one, 11(8). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4988629/

Thornton, R. L., Glover, C. M., Cené, C. W., Glik, D. C., Henderson, J. A., & Williams, D. R. (2016). Evaluating strategies for reducing health disparities by addressing the social determinants of health. Health Affairs, 35(8), 1416-1423. https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.2015.1357