Health Promotion among Diverse Population: African Americans

Health Promotion among Diverse Population: African Americans
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Health Promotion among Diverse Population: African Americans
African Americans comprise of about 12.9 percent of the total population in the United States (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2014). This is the second largest minority group after the Latinos. The African Americans were previously known as the Negroes, but are now referred to as black Americans or people of color and are largely the descendants of slaves from Africa. This population carries a disproportionate burden of health such as disease, disability, injury and death. While the leading causes of death among the African Americans are the same for other populations such as the non-Hispanic whites, the incidents and risk factors, disease morbidity and rates of mortality for injuries and diseases are often greater among blacks compared to whites. At the same time, three of the leading causes of death among blacks, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), homicide, and septicemia, are not the top causes of death among the whites. The 2002 reports indicated that the number of deaths from HIV/AIDS among the non-Hispanic blacks was 11 times more than the whites. Additionally, while cancer is the second among the top causes of deaths among both non-Hispanic whites and non-Hispanic blacks, statistics reveal that more black females are affected compared to white females for cancers such as rectal/colon, stomach and pancreatic cancers. Health disparities among racial and ethnic groups have been reflected as the key indicators of the progress in achieving the national health goals.
These health indicators where non-Hispanic blacks trail behind non-Hispanic whites include health insurance, vaccination against influenza and pneumococcal diseases, first trimester prenatal care and participation in physical activities (Weinstein, Geller, Negussie, & Baciu, 2017). While there have been improvements in health care among all populations in the United States, health disparities among ethnic and racial minority groups still continue to persist. In addition, populations from low-income families continue to experience poor quality health care. Currently, African Americans receive worse care compared to whites and have least access to care. Mortality rates for African Americans for diseases such as stroke, diabetes, influenza, cancer, pneumonia and HIV/AIDS and homicide are generally higher than the whites. 54.4 percent of the non-Hispanic blacks had access to private health insurance in 2015 compared to 75.8 percent of the whites. Additionally, 43.6 percent of African Americans had Medicaid cover in comparison to 32.7 percent of the whites who sought for the public health insurance. A total of 11 percent of African Americans are uninsured compared to the 6.3 percent of the whites who have no health cover (Office of Minority Health, 2018).
The challenges to improving health among all the American populations, especially among the African Americans include unhealthy behaviors, lack of education and barriers to accessing health promotion programs. Wellness promotion fair is one of the ways health care providers can contribute to the goals o...