Health Analysis for a Minority Group
It is important to conduct a health analysis for specific geographical locations and specific people in a community. A health analysis uses statistical data and observations about to understand the health status of the given people. Health experts are advised to conduct health analyses regularly in different communities. The advantages of conducting health analyses are that they help health experts to identify existing health hazards among different people. Through health analyses, important decisions about the health of people can be made. This paper will talk about a health analysis for African Americans. The paper will look at existing health challenges among this group of people and formulate solutions to these challenges affecting Black Americans.
Description of African Americans Heath Analysis
African Americans are a minority group of people living in America. These people found themselves in America way back in the era of slavery. Their ancestors were originally brought from Africa and came to America to serve as slaves. Many years later, slavery was abolished, and these people were given freedom and citizenship since their roots in Africa could not have been traced. African Americans are a group of people that have gone through lots of difficult moments like slavery and discrimination. Today this group of people has had its freedom, although it is still fighting for fair treatment and treated in the same manner that the white Americans are treated. African Americans are still struggling with poverty as they try to elevate their social status.
Health Disparities for African Americans
In terms of health, African Americans have tried to improve. Their death rates have reduced by 25% in the last seventeen years, which is great progress (CDC, 2017). This group, however, has been identified to have several health issues that are not common with other groups of people in America. It has been noted that most African Americans are suffering from chronic diseases that are most common to older adults rather than young people. These diseases like hypertension, diabetes, and stroke. This situation is different when compared to white people whose cases of these chronic illnesses are majorly people in the old age bracket. Several factors have tried to explain why African Americans are suffering from these conditions at an early age.
Health Barriers for African Americans
The first reason why African Americans are suffering from chronic diseases can be linked to their diet. African Americans have largely adopted the habit of grabbing fast foods. These people tend to work extra shifts and two jobs so that they can meet their daily needs. Most of them are minimum wage workers struggling to make ends meet. These tight working schedules leave them with little time to make a balanced diet, and instead, they rush to eat fast foods that are cheap and readily available. The next challenge is inactivity. Their busy lifestyles make them lack time for adequate physical exercise.
Other health barriers for African Americans arise from the use of alcohol, drug abuse, and smoking. Many young blacks get involved in alcoholism, drugs, and smoking. The peer pressure among these people is very high. Idleness caused by unemployment is one reason many young African Americans are involved in drugs, alcoholism, and smoking. The misuse of drugs affects the health of an individual, exposing them to severe health issues like blood pressure and strokes. Drug abuse is one reason why many African Americans are suffering from chronic diseases at a young age.
The other reason why young African Americans are constantly contracting chronic diseases is educational barriers. Most African Americans do not receive education at higher levels. The rate of school dropout among blacks when compared to whites is a bit high. Young people who drop out of school early begin to use drugs early, resulting in these chronic diseases. Lack of adequate education also affects people’s choices of food and other living standards. The low quality of education among African Americans is one reason why they contract chronic diseases at an early age.
Health Promotion Activities among African Americans
African Americans often participate in activities that are aimed at helping them to improve their health conditions. The most conspicuous activities are the ones performed by the faith organizations like churches and mosques. These organizations play a huge role in ensuring that health information is passed over to the people. In the course of a church service, for example, invites experts to talk about heath to the people (Holt et al., 2017). The church leaders may also gather health information and pass it to the people in the service.
The other health promotion activity among African Americans is promotion fairs. Health promotion fairs are conducted by nurses and healthcare providers. Their main purpose is to interact with the community members and pass health information (Minority Nurse, 2013). Through these fairs, the members of the community get to understand the challenge ahead of them, and their questions are answered by the health experts. Through these fairs, behaviors, and attitudes towards health are changed.
Appropriate Approaches to the Problem
The challenge of contracting chronic diseases among young African Americans needs to be dealt with at the primary stage. The contraction of these diseases can be put out if the right approaches were to be used. The first appropriate approach is passing health education to the people. If African Americans were to be well educated about the chronic diseases that they are prone to, the cases of chronic illnesses among young African Americans would reduce. Educating them would help in changing their behaviors and attitudes.
Applicable Cultural Model
When creating a care plan for African Americans, the economic factors must be put into considerations. The care plan solution should be affordable to the people. Most of the people in this group are minimum wage works that may not be in a position to adopt expensive care plans. The other consideration is in the manner on how to approach them. African Americans are generally aggressive. They need to be approached well and made to understand the issues affecting them. Telling them that they are prone to chronic diseases because of their black culture and living styles might sound like a discriminating factor. It is, therefore, necessary that they are approached well so that they can get to understand the facts. The Purnell model of cultural competence can apply to this group. This is because this model covers every aspect of dealing with a community starting from the family (Albougami et al. 2016).
Conclusion
African Americans are a minority group that exists in America. This group of people is highly prone to contracting chronic illnesses at an earlier age. Contracting chronic illnesses at an earlier age is likely to result in earlier death. These people are exposed to this risk factor due to certain elements in their culture like unhealthy diet, lack of exercise, drug abuse, and smoking. This situation is trying to be remedied by passing health information in churches and at health fairs. This situation should be handled at the primary stage to avoid new contractions by spreading the information widely. The Purnell model would apply to handle this situation. African Americans need to change their habits to avoid contracting chronic diseases at an early age.
References
Albougami, A. S., Pounds, K. G., & Alotaibi, J. S. (2016). Comparison of four cultural competence models in transcultural nursing: A discussion paper. International Archives of Nursing and Health Care, 2(3), 1-5.
- (2017, July 3). African American Health: Creating Equal Opportunities for health [Blog post] Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/aahealth/index.html
Minority Nurse (2013, Mar 21). Health Promotion and the African American Community [Blog post] Retrieved from https://minoritynurse.com/health-promotion-and-the-african-american-community/
Holt, C. L., Graham-Phillips, A. L., Mullins, C. D., Slade, J. L., Savoy, A., & Carter, R. (2017). Health ministry and activities in African American faith-based organizations: A qualitative examination of facilitators, barriers, and use of technology. Journal of health care for the poor and underserved, 28(1), 378.