Improving Health Outcomes for Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups

 

April is National Minority Health Month and a time to raise awareness about the health disparities that affect people from racial and ethnic minority groups throughout our country and how we can improve their health.

The social determinants of health (SDOH) are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live and age and the forces and systems around them that shape their daily lives. These include economics, political systems and social norms and policies. The lower the socioeconomic position of the person, the higher the risk of poor health. This disproportionately affects racial and ethnic minorities. They experience higher rates of chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, obesity and asthma when compared to whites. Chronic conditions and the impact of these conditions can be more severe due to other health inequities that people experience, such as lack of insurance coverage, lack of access to healthcare and economic limitations. Systematic inequality exists with housing, health care, and the social and economic status within the racial and ethnic minority populations. Add in that a member of a racial and ethnic minority group may also be a member of the LGBTQ+ community and have food insecurity puts them at an even higher risk for adverse health outcomes that could affect their health and well-being.

One way to improve health outcomes for racial and ethnic minorities involves providing culturally and linguistically appropriate services to help empower them. The use of community health workers (CHW) can do that.

CHWs:

• Are members of the community who serve as advocates and liaisons to connect individuals and families to health care and social services
• Have a strong connection to the community they serve
• May share the same ethnicity, race, language, social-economic characteristics, cultural, spiritual beliefs and life experiences as found in the community
• Work in urban or rural environments and with low-income, minority, immigrant and underserved communities
• Have diverse job descriptions as well as job titles depending on the organization in which they work
• Can help address the gaps in our health care system by working with clients in their communities to connect them to healthcare and eliminate barriers for the clients
• Can reduce health disparities in the communities they serve
• Build a healthier community through prevention strategies and health promotion

 A CHW sounds like a pretty important job as they can be the “bridge” to a healthier community with the wide variety of services they provide. They are on the front lines of health equity and we need to train and support them.

We have a multicultural society in America, and it is critical that there is equal access to healthcare. There must be a strong effort to overcome the economic and social obstacles and leave politics out of it. A healthier America is good for everyone. Let’s build it through education and taking real steps and real actions toward progress.

https://www.cdc.gov/about/sdoh/index.html

https://www.minorityhealth.hhs.gov/nmhm/