African-American Healthcare Needs: A Plan

African-American Healthcare Needs:

A Plan For Improvement

The following paper explores the on-going healthcare needs of African-Americans, a diverse ethnic/cultural group which in 1990 was comprised of more than 30 million individuals from various cultural backgrounds in Africa, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. As to the healthcare concerns for this large group of Americans, they currently face a number of serious illnesses and medical conditions based on lifestyle, genetics and a lack of access to high-quality healthcare assistance. Thus, this paper will address these and other concerns and then provide a plan to help resolve these health-related problems, thereby increasing the life span and quality of living for all African-Americans ("Health and Health Care," 2009, Internet).

AFRICAN-AMERICAN MORTALITY RATES:

First of all, the mortality rates of African-Americans, as compared to other racial/ethnic groups, are much higher, especially in the elderly. This is due in part to several reasons -- first, they lack adequate educational and personal resources related to being aware of exactly what type of illnesses they are suffering from, and second, they lack the ability to access adequate health care professionals and facilities, especially in rural settings. This problem of mortality, i.e., dying at a younger age, is nothing new, for many studies over the past ten years or so have conclusively shown that the life expectancies of African-Americans are much shorter than other ethnic/racial groups, such as Caucasians and Hispanics. For example, in 1997, black females had a life expectancy of about 75 years, while black males was around 68 years; however, beyond the age of 85, life expectancy rises, being about 7 extra years for females and 6 extra years for males ("Health and Health Care," 2009, Internet).

LEADING CAUSES OF MORTALITY:

Not surprisingly, the leading causes of death in African-Americans over the age of 65 are similar to those of other ethnic/racial groups. In order of occurrence, these causes are heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, pneumonia and influenza. The first three causes are also linked to mortality after the age of 65 in whites, Asians and Hispanics; however, diabetes appears to be most prevalent in African-Americans regardless of age, due to a tendency to have poorer diets and to be obese (Spector, 2008, p. 176). With cancer, the mortality rate for African-Americans is more than 30% higher as compared to white Americans; the rates are also higher with hypertension (high blood pressure) in black males but lower with black females. Once again, the causes for these high rates are most probably due to a poor diet, obesity and smoking ("Health and Health Care," 2009, Internet).

LEADING CAUSES OF MORBIDITY:

Some of the diseases which often result in early death in African-Americans, provided that the go untreated or undiagnosed, include hypertension, coronary heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, dementia (i.e., Alzheimer's disease), diabetes and certain types of cancer, most notably lung cancer, breast cancer, colon cancer and prostate cancer (in men). Exactly why the morbidity rates for these disease are so much higher in African-Americans than in other ethnic/racial groups include a lack of education, lower incomes and the inability to access professional health care providers and clinics ("Health and Health Care," 2009, Internet). At the top of the list, there is hypertension, coronary heart disease (especially arterial blockage), stroke and some major types of cancer. With hypertension, some studies have shown that if a black male lives in poverty, his chances of being stricken with high blood pressure increases, perhaps because of the stress which goes along with living in poor neighborhoods. In older black males, prostate cancer is 60% higher than in other ethnic/racial groups, perhaps due to a poor diet and one rich in fat and carbohydrates ("Health and Health Care," 2009, Internet). One additional illness which seems to have a higher incidence in African-Americans is glaucoma which is more than eight times higher than in whites. The reason for this may be linked to inadequate access to eye care specialists or to being unable to pay for surgery to correct the problem when Medicare does not cover the procedure ("Health and Health Care," 2009, Internet).