Question 3
How will disparities affect your practice? What can you do as a health care professional to eliminate health disparities?
posted by Health Disparities Education Core @ 12:03 PM
4 comments
Health Disparities
The Health Disparities blog is for anyone interested in discussing health disparity topics. Post your thoughts, experiences, recommended readings, ideas to reduce disparities, etc. Also, check out our website http://ncrhp.uic.edu/healthdisparities to learn more about disparity issues.
Monday, June 12, 2006
About Me
- Name: Health Disparities Education Core
- Location: Rockford, Illinois, United States
Project EXPORT Center for Excellence in Rural Health University of IL College of Medicine-Rockford
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4 Comments:
I plan to practice in a rural area so access to care will be a health disparity that my patients may face. As a physician, I can help bring telehealth to patients that aren't able to travel into a clinic or hospital. Also, I believe educating my patients and others in the community on health disparties can help reduce some of the disparties that exist.
C.M.D.
As a health care professional, I can help patients become more educated about health care in general. By educating the public, one health disparity can be reduced. Also, I would make it a priority to have an interpreter on staff at all times. This would cut out a lot of confusion and wasted time for patients and staff.
s.d.
I am also planning on staying in this area to work. I think that things here will probably increase more as the years go on. As a health care professional the best way for me personally to help eliminate health disparities in this area would be to work with those patients at risk and educate them as much as possible on the diseases that seem to run with health disparities. I think learning Spanish would also help.
I.T.
Disparities, whether they be in a rural or an urban setting affect people in profound, often discriminating and paralyzing ways. One of public health’s missions is to provide care to those that are underserved. This means to reach out to those people through different venues such as media (radio, TV, hospital, library, etc), health fairs, local school and college education, political campaigns, and the biggest tool of all, by encouraging word of mouth and personal experience at healthcare centers/clinics. I would also create programs to target a specific community or group. Perhaps, instead of just hoping for an intervention to lower a disease’s rates in a community, I would focus on a high-risk population more so than the low risk because each group may have their own needs and their own reasons for their high rates. For instance, the reason why African-Americans are suffering heart attacks compared to Hispanics can be totally different.
Personally, another thing that I would do is periodically survey the community’s population or conduct a needs assessment while collaborating with other agencies like the hospital or the mental health center. In addition, I would probably use the IPLAN to my community’s advantage. Lastly, I would compare the national statistics to the statistics of my community to see any disparities there.
-SP
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