Race is a Fundamental Cause of Health and Mortality

Race is a Fundamental Cause of Health and Mortality Introduction A lot of data depict health and mortality outcomes as being associated with the race of an individual. The apparent racial disparities in health and mortality relate to factors in the social settings which promote and perpetuate the racial differences in health outcomes. While the many factors such as heredity, neglect, poor residential places, lack of nutritious foods, and poor neighborhoods contribute to poor health outcomes, the level of social advancement plays a major influence. In the 1950, the lifespan of white men was 7.4 years more than black men while white women had a lifespan of 9.3 years more than the black women. Further studies indicate that Black Americans and Americans of Indian origin have higher mortality rates across all ages than the whites. In minorities, the incidence and prevalence of diseases such as diabetes and hypertension is higher than in whites, and the prognosis is worse. Social policies and ideologies initiate and perpetuate development of diseases. Williams and Sternthal indicate that “social structures and social stratifications are key determinants of health in all races”. Social structure relates embedded patterns of social life that define an individual’s “attitudes and beliefs, behaviors and actions, and material and psychological resources”.

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Literature Review There are many factors which influence the health outcomes of individuals, and these factors develop as a function of differential exposure to risk factors in the society. Health and mortality bear a correlation to education achievements, economic status, and health access. The social economic status of individuals differs across racial lines. The racial differences in health outcomes may also be due to influences of different mechanisms, which may be individual or structural. Individual mechanisms include physician attitude and behaviors while structural mechanisms involve residential segregation. The health outcomes and mortality in all races is a result of deeply embedded perceptions based historical, traditions, sociocultural, and beliefs (Williams and Collin 356).

In the United States, the death rates of African Americans remain marginally high as compared to whites, with an estimated 100, 000 African Americans dying annually. In their study on social sources of racial disparities in health, Williamson and Jackson note that “race is a marker for differential exposure to multiple racial disparities in health” (327). The researchers found the death rates of African Americans to be about six times more than in the whites. The mortality rate for African Americans from heart disease and cancer was 30 percent more than in whites in the year 2000. To understand the racial disparities in health, William and Jackson considered the socioeconomic status, living environments and access to health care.

All the indicators of economic status such as income, education and economic activity are uniquely defined in the different races. The social economic status of individuals therefore contributes greatly to health disparities. When examining homicide rates, the researchers found huge margins between the African and Americans and the whites with same level of education.

For instance, in comparing deaths due to homicide between the black and the white males with similar education levels, it was found that the mortality rates in the blacks was eleven times that of the whites. Income was also a key determinant of health and mortality rate, with diseases being more prevalent in those people from low and middle income classes. Across the racial lines, death rates from heart disease among low income African American women was 65 percent more than white women from the same class, while the mortality rate in middle class African American women was 50 percent more than that in the whites (Williams and Jackson 328). Health practices such as dietary habits, exercise, smoking and alcohol consumption are highly associated with chronic conditions, which are more prevalent in minority races. People from minority races and low socioeconomic status are also unlikely to engage in healthy practices hence poor health and high mortality rates (Lutfey and Freese 1327). Stress due to racial discrimination contributes to poor health outcomes and high mortality rates.

Structural mechanisms like residential segregation of different races place certain races in poor environmental conditions, thus causing health disparities. Poor whites inhabit better environments as compared to other races (Hummer et al. 442). Segregation has promoted racial differences as it influences educational and employment achievements hence health outcomes.

Neighborhoods have variations in the availability of recreational facilities, which in turn impact on healthy activities. Different neighborhoods are also characterized by differing availability of healthy commodities such as healthy foods and essential medicines, while inequalities existing in access to health care are contributing factors to the racial disparities in diseases. Health insurance coverage is skewed across the races, with the African Americans having low levels. Minority races such as the blacks are not given appropriate emergency care, but they receive poor quality care (Massey 9).

“Racial differences in the quality and intensity of treatment persist after socioeconomic status, insurance status, patient preference, severity of disease, and coexisting medical conditions are taken into account” (Williams and Jackson 332). Racial segregation is a major contributor of racial health variations. The separation of races forms a mechanism of mechanism of advancing racism as it concentrates poverty, social abnormalities, and social isolation while creating diseases in the environment. Residential segregation also creates differing environmental qualities and community conditions. A lot of evidence has shown that segregation accounts for the distinctive living environments of minority races from that of the other population (Williams and Sternthal 20).

Conclusion Commenting on the Tuskegee study, many contributors perceive the existence of deliberate neglect of some races, and see apparent discrimination of people as some lives are more valued than others. The bias in allocation of public resources is attributed for the high infant mortality rates, youth mortality, and adult mortality in African Americans (Jones 38).

“Government authorities and medical officials must strive to cleanse medicine of social infections by eliminating any type of racial or moral stereotyping of people or illnesses. They must seek to build a health system that will make adequate health care available to all Americans” (Jones 40).

There is need to address health disparities across all races by focusing on opportunities and interventions which can help in decreasing to reduce the inequalities. Possible intervention measures include minimizing socioeconomic differences, which are the primary causes of health disparities, availing adequate financial resources to health care through increasing the number of Americans with health insurance coverage, eliminating physical, behavioral, and cultural barriers

to health care and promoting equity in the provision of quality health care. Efforts should also be directed in designing public health strategies and interventions to reduce health risks at the level of communities and implementing health strategies to decrease health risks that target individuals or population subgroups that are not necessarily in the same community, such as increased taxation of tobacco products (Williams, McClellan and Rivlin 1483).

Works Cited Hummer, A. Robert, Powers A. Daniels, Pullum, G. Starling, Gossman, L. Ginger and Frisbie, W. Parker. “Paradox found (again): Infant mortality among the Mexican-origin population in the United States.” Demography, 44.3; (2007): 441-457.

Jones, H. James. “The Tuskegee Legacy: Aids and the black community.” Hastings Center Report, 22.6; (1992): 38-40 Lutfey, Karen and Freese Jeremy. “Toward some fundamentals of fundamental causality: Socioeconomic status and health in the routine clinic visit for diabetes.” American Journal of Sociology, 110.5; (2005): 1326-1372.

Massey S. Douglas. “Segregation and stratification: A biosocial perspective”. Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race, 1; (2004): 7-25 Smedley, D. Brian, Stith Y. Adrienne and Nelson Alan Ray. Unequal treatment: Confronting racial and ethnic disparities in health care. Washington, DC: National Academic Press, 2002. Print.

Williams, R. David & Jackson, Braboy Pamela. “Social sources of racial disparities in health.”

Health Affairs, 24.2; (2005): 325-334.

Williams, R. David and Collins Chiquita. “U.S. Socioeconomic and racial differences in health: Patterns and explanations.” Annual Review of Sociology, 21; (1995): 349-386 Williams, R. David, McClellan B. Mark and Rivlin M. Alice. “Beyond the Affordable Care Act: Achieving real improvements in Americans’ health.” Health Affairs, 29; (2010): 14811488.

Williams, R. David. & Sternthal Michelle. “Understanding racial-ethnic disparities in health.”

Journal of Health and social Behavior, 51.1; (2010): S15-S27.