Disparities in Healthcare Equity and Access

Disparities in Healthcare Equity and Access
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Disparities in Healthcare Equity and Access
Health inequalities persist within the healthcare system. Braveman (2014) notes that health inequities denote unjust and preventable differences evident in people’s health across populations and between specific groups. Health disparities refer to differences in people’s health status among different sections of the population including differences in race, income, gender, education, and living in different geographic localities (Braveman, 2014). Specialty nurses often encounter health inequalities and disparities during patient care. Within the diabetes specialty, I have encountered situations that show difficulty in health equity and access to care.
I treated a patient with difficulty accessing care in my specialty. The patient was paralyzed after a car accident and now uses a wheelchair to move around. The patient suffers from diabetes and comes in for regular checkups to ensure that his blood sugar levels are okay given that he is paralyzed. However, the patient noted difficulties coming for the checkups because he does not have family members to support him. For example, sometimes he misses appointments and other times he comes in late. I have worked with him to help find resources that could be helpful in addressing such challenges.
One factor contributing to health disparity in the patient’s case is poverty. Having a disability increases the patent’s risk of poverty because of financial difficulties. National (2017) argues that people with disabilities have a two-fold likelihood of living in poverty than people without disabilities. Despite making about 12 percent of the U.S., more than half of people with disabilities live in long-term poverty (National, 2017). For example, the patient I treat does not have a good financial standing and often depends on disability benefits. Additionally, he does not have close famil...