What is meant by “Disparities in health and in health care are structural in origin?”

What is meant by “Disparities in health and in health care are structural in origin?” What is meant by, the statement “Disparities in health and in health care are structural in origin?” This statement can have different connotations, depending upon the audience with whom it is spoken. For example, someone negatively impacted by the “invisible walls” will have a much greater appreciation for change and apt to do so, more so than someone that has only, positively benefited from the onset, thus having nothing to compare and contrast. Firstly, it is an acknowledgement or admission of the fact that disparities do exist within our health care and health environments. But, it also intrigues your suspicion whether or not its source is structural in origin or possibly from some another source, which in my opinion is a bit awkward to consider. Furthermore, it causes you to wonder, “How did we allow these harmful and corrupt idiocies to penetrate the very foundations of our democratic society?” Those in leadership roles who continue to abuse the position of power in a negative or wrongful manner should be held accountable and removed from position without possibility of re-entrance at some later point in time. By assessing our resources and implementation of a checks and balance system, we as a uniformed nation should be able to weed out that old bad weed, thus seeking that new breed of life into and our structural foundation. By continuing, to promote or engage in negative philosophies or seducing ideologies within our health care infrastructure, you are responsible for further diminishing our growth and upliftment and should be held accountable from the corporate standpoint as well as civil or individual. If democracy is origin, then it is our duty that we must model the primary elements that directly affects our well being, in that fashion and nothing short of it. The advent of the Affordable Care Act, (ACA), was meet with rigorous resistence, although “The Affordable Care Act includes provisions to standardize the collection of data on health care quality that can be used to measure disparities. (Moskowitz, D., Guthrie, B., & Bindman, A. B. (2012) To the contrary, anything else opposite our democratic views , do however have the ability to negatively, impact the structural foundation of our society and the communities that we live in. If this statement is meant to imply, that it originates from our origin, which notably is democratic, this would definitely set stage for bigger problems, that we are yet willing to discuss openly and honestly in the U.S. In essence, all these deprivations have a tendency to relate one to another. “Despite recognizing that individuals transitioning from homelessness to (Permanent supportive housing PSH) experience a high burden of disease and health disparities, public health research has not considered whether and how (Permanent supportive housing (PSH) improves physical health outcomes.” (Henwood, B. F., Cabassa, L. J., Craig, C. M., & Padgett, D. K. (2013) The statement aforementioned, would duly suggest as it were, disparity has been weaved into the threads of our social make-up, which has ultimately affected our exact existence. or purpose for which we were all created. Secondly, it is my belief that it would not be too difficult to find many that are opposing to this protestation. According to, Miller, Kirk , Kaiser and Glos “We examined disparities among US adults with disabilities and the degree to which health insurance attenuates disparities by race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status (SES).” (Miller, N. A., Kirk, A., Kaiser, M. J., & Glos, L. (2014) Instead, of the health care governing body addressing the issues that are wrecking our nation politically and financially, it is evident that these issues have been ignored throughout our U.S. history and swept under the rug, per say. The loud outcry, which has gotten so much attention recently, is in-part due to those who are suffering. Hopefully, now we will witness to changes that may positively change our way of life in the U.S. Sadly, enough, not until now, have we ever seen anything been done about the inequality that lurks within our infrastructure like a latent infestation . Thirdly, unlike certain other foreign countries, that provide free health care to all of its citizens, the U.S. uses a different methodology or capitalistic approach that helps to distinguish ones economic status. There are many other situations and health care issues that also plague our nation that also must be dealt with in the near future. Perhaps we have been stagnated far to long for either lack of resources, lack of manpower or the lack prominent leadership that is willing to step up and do what is socially right and just. For more reasons, than I’m willing to discuss in this paper, sounds as if this health care and the entire health care industry has become more political in nature and thus loosing focus on what is more important which is our right to a healthy, happy life. Fortunately, however, the health care industry and all of related industries liken unto pharmaceuticals, insurance and, Long-Term Care (LTC), have all reached their climatic point and change must occur and is in fact inevitable. Now, with that being said we can’t make hasty or rash decision rather it is good or bad simply because we haven’t given it enough time to determine the effects. Obviously, change needed to be made because there were so many problems and no one was on watch. Clearly, we want to see a positive structure or foundation so that we can develop more as a unit, thus sharing the burdens. The inability to admit problems exist can in itself be a hindrance, thus prohibiting future growth and development that is so necessary for our society and the progression of our communities. On the other hand, to deny that this is a problem that exists within our communities, would probably be indicative of the fact you are a foreigner and not from the U.S. , though there is surmounting evidence, of numerous claims and findings in recent studies and other relative developmental research. The U.S. health and health care institutions embeds or breeds a structurally dysfunctional systemic origin that penetrates throughout the medical industry, as well as other faucets of our society. However, “It is widely accepted that diversifying the nation's health-care workforce is a necessary strategy to increase access to quality health care for all populations, reduce health disparities, and achieve health equity.” (Williams, S., Hansen, K., Smithey, M., Burnley, J., Koplitz, M., Koyama, K., & ... Bakos, A. (2014). These epic disparities are evident in all sectors of health care including the pay scale and rate of pay, positions and titles as well as the quality of health care or services rendered. For example, in the past hospital executive level positions were likely to be held by a male gender, quite possibly of the Caucasian persuasion, in many cases. More recently, there has been a flux of qualified and suitable prospective, with embellished credentials of different races, sexes, creeds, caste and colors. In conclusion, the terms, Inequality or Disparity can be described in many ways and can just be evident in different settings, forms and have varying side effects. For example, “We assessed cancer care disparities within the Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system and whether between-hospital differences explained disparities.” (Samuel, C. A., Landrum, M., McNeil, B. J., Bozeman, S. R., Williams, C. D., & Keating, N. L. (2014) Though there were other factors that played part in the assessment , it still found evidence that disparity does exist. These health care disparities are also types of inequalities that are often being felt or are being observed, from the outside as well as the inside and from patient to care taker at all levels. For example, those individuals that may require long-term care (LTC) and those patients that have chronic illness, according to research have related common factors. Health equity refers to the study of differences in the quality of health and healthcare across different populations. Accordingly, health equity is not the same as health equality. Health equity refers only to the absence of disparities in controllable or remediable aspects of health. For the most part, it is presently not possible to work towards total health equality, simply because there are some elements of health that are metaphysical and out of our scope. The term equity would suggest that there is some kind of social injustice, which was the original claim from the onset. “Uninsured individuals experienced substantially poorer access across most measures, including reporting a usual source of care and experiencing delays in or being unable to obtain care.” (Miller, N. A., Kirk, A., Kaiser, M. J., & Glos, L. (2014).)For example, if one type of people looses hair because of genetic make-up, or sickle-cell, whereas another race has little to none known occurrences then we can conclude that it is a non-remediable or uncontrollable factor, thus having no further filibustering. But, now on the other hand, if a certain population of people loses their lives because of a lack of access to health care and other medical resources, this particular situation would be revealed as a health inequity. Some of the disparities and differences between populations within different races, ethnic backgrounds, origins, sexual orientation or socioeconomic status worth mentioning that poses socially unethical threats are as follows: • presence of disease • health outcomes • access to health care • treatment methods • LTC assistance References 1. Henwood, B. F., Cabassa, L. J., Craig, C. M., & Padgett, D. K. (2013). Permanent Supportive Housing: Addressing Homelessness and Health Disparities?. American Journal Of Public Health, 103(S2), S188-S192. doi:10. 2105/AJPH.2013.301490 2. Miller, N. A., Kirk, A., Kaiser, M. J., & Glos, L. (2014). The Relation Between Health Insurance and Health Care Disparities Among Adults With Disabilities. American Journal Of Public Health, 104(3), e85-e93. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2013.301478 3. Moskowitz, D., Guthrie, B., & Bindman, A. B. (2012). The Role of Data in Health Care Disparities in Medicaid Managed Care. Medicare & Medicaid Research Review, 2(4), E1-E14. doi:10.5600/mmrr.002.04.a02 4. Samuel, C. A., Landrum, M., McNeil, B. J., Bozeman, S. R., Williams, C. D., & Keating, N. L. (2014). Racial Disparities in Cancer Care in the Veterans Affairs Health Care System and the Role of Site of Care. American Journal Of Public Health, 104(S4), S562-S571. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2014.302079 5. Williams, S., Hansen, K., Smithey, M., Burnley, J., Koplitz, M., Koyama, K., & ... Bakos, A. (2014). Using social determinants of health to link health workforce diversity, care quality and access, and health disparities to achieve health equity in nursing. Public Health Reports (Washington, D.C.: 1974), 129 Suppl 232-36.