Race and Health Levels

Race and Health Levels
A look a minority health status in the United States

Affectors of Health Levels

Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being. All humans strive to be "healthy" so that they can be happy and productive. Unfortunately, statistics show that there are "differences in the incidence, prevalence, mortality, and burden of diseases and other adverse health conditions among specific population groups in the U.S." (NIH). Findings that indicate health disparities among races suggest reason to suspect a number of explanatory factors.

So then, what factors affect health level?

Biological differences between groups of people (of different races):

"About 75 percent of known genetic factors are innate and identical in all humans" however, "about 95 percent of human genetic variation exists within racial groups". [source] Therefore, health status may have something to do with a high tendency for a specific affliction because of race.

Socio-economic status:

As the level of socio-economic status (SES) rises, health risks diminish. Racial minorities, however, tend to be low on the SES scale, thus remaining at high risk for compromised health.
"The disproportionate representation of minority groups at the low end of the socio-economic spectrum reflects the successful implementation of social policies designed to limit societal benefits to socially marginalized groups". [source] As a result, health levels for different races are affected, and often for the worse.

Lifestyle:

According to the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, [Site] "health behaviors and lifestyle account for more of the variation in health than medical care and genetic factors combined". [source]
Also according to the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, "most of the major risk factors responsible for the excess level of disease and death within Black and minority populations are behavioral, and thus potentially preventable". [source]

Social support:

Marital status: (happily) married couples tend to have positive health levels.
High level of involvement with religious organizations, kinship networks, and family, might have beneficial results in terms of improving health status.

Geography:

"Residential segregation creates communities characterized by unequal access to municipal services and medical care". [source]
Studies have also found correlations between residential segregation and mortality for blacks.

Occupations:

Exposure to toxic materials, in various occupations, is disproportionately high for racial minorities.
"Blacks are more likely than whites to be exposed to occupational hazards and carcinogens at work". [source]

Access to health care/insurance:

Those people who have jobs with healthcare benefits, or those with incomes that allow for adequate health care are more likely to have a higher health status. Recent data showed that among minority groups, the largest increase in the percentage of those who were uninsured were black.
"Blacks and Hispanics have lower levels of health insurance coverage than Whites". [source]

Treatments:

Blacks are less likely than whites to be recommended for, or receive, major therapeutic procedures/treatments.
Analysis of medicare files indicated that procedures that were recommended and/or performed on blacks reflected "delayed diagnosis, delayed initial treatment, or failure in the management of chronic disease". [source]

Discrimination/individual presumptions about other races:

Substantial proportions of whites endorse negative stereotypes for blacks. Supposing that doctors uphold negative stereotypes for other races, quality of care could be sacrificed, thus affecting the overall health for many innocent people.
Quality of care for racial minorities is lower than for white counterparts.