Health Disparities Research Essay

Health disparities are defined as the preventable differences in the burden of injury, disease, violence, or the opportunities to achieve access to optimal health care that are found among the socially disadvantaged persons. The people can be discriminated against as either belonging to certain race, gender, geographic area, having certain educational or income backgrounds, having a disability, or even having certain sexual orientation. These health disparities are essentially inequitable and unjust and represent the unequal distribution of economic, political, social or other resources in the society. Furthermore, the reasons for health disparities are given as poverty, unequal access to health facilities, educational inequalities, environmental factors, and individual or societal factors (CDC, 2011). Health Disparities Research Essay

In addition, health disparities are also defined as the differences in the health outcomes of various groups in the society and reflect social inequalities. Further, it is true that these health disparities are avoidable as well as correctable (Frieden, 2011). Moreover, it was also found that the governments have put all their efforts in improving the availability and quality of health care provided in the country as a direct result of these health disparities. Next, the variability causing health disparities in the United States and in other developing countries is not due to health care per se but represents the person’s social status in the society (Barr, 2008). Health Disparities Research Essay