Health Disparities in Healthy People 2020: Key Goals
This paper examines health disparities as addressed by the Healthy People 2020 initiative, which identifies health disparities as differences closely linked to socioeconomic and environmental disadvantages. The paper reviews racial and ethnic gaps in maternal, infant, and child health outcomes — particularly among African-Americans — and discusses how life course approaches and preconception programs aim to reduce these disparities. It also evaluates national progress through mortality and homicide data, notes persistent inequities in education and income, and explores how social disadvantage shapes health outcomes. Finally, it considers why clear, operation-based definitions of health disparity are essential to effective public policy.
- Introduction to Health Disparities and Healthy People 2020: Defines health disparities within the Healthy People 2020 framework
- Maternal, Infant, and Child Health Disparities: Racial gaps in maternal and infant health outcomes
- Report Card on the Nation's Health: Progress and persistent gaps in national health equity
- Health Disparities and Social Disadvantage: Why clear definitions of disparity are vital for policy
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What makes this paper effective
- Clearly defines the scope of health disparities as established by Healthy People 2020, grounding the discussion in an authoritative policy framework before moving to specific examples.
- Grounds abstract policy goals in concrete evidence, citing measurable indicators such as declining homicide rates and narrowing mortality gaps between racial groups.
- Connects multiple levels of analysis — individual (fertility, maternal health), community (racial disparities), and policy (Healthy People 2020 objectives) — within a compact structure.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates effective use of policy-document synthesis: it draws directly on official Healthy People 2020 sources and peer-reviewed journal articles to explain both the goals of the initiative and the measurable progress (or lack thereof) toward those goals. This approach shows students how to evaluate a public health program by aligning its stated objectives against available outcome data.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a definition of health disparity as used by Healthy People 2020, then narrows to maternal, infant, and child health as a primary case study. A "report card" section reviews national progress data, and the final section addresses the theoretical and definitional challenges surrounding health equity and social justice. Each section builds logically on the last, moving from definition to evidence to policy implication.
Introduction to Health Disparities and Healthy People 2020
For the last two decades, one of the central goals of Healthy People has been alleviating disparities. Healthy People 2000 focused on reducing health-related disparities in the American population. The Healthy People 2020 mission defines a health disparity as a health difference that is closely linked to socioeconomic and environmental disadvantages. Such health disparities negatively affect groups that face systematic obstacles because of their race, socioeconomic status, religion, gender, age, cognitive abilities, physical disability, geographic location, sexual orientation, or ethnic group (Anon., n.d.).
Maternal, Infant, and Child Health Disparities
As is the case with adults, social and demographic forces — including family income — affect infant health as well. The physical and mental health of caregivers and parents are also contributing factors. Racial disparities have been observed in both mortality and morbidity for children and mothers, and this is particularly true for African-Americans. These outcome differences result from multiple factors. It has also been noted that the social determinants affecting maternal health similarly affect pregnancy outcomes and infant health.
Ethnic and racial disparities in infant mortality rates — especially among African-Americans — are well documented. The latest efforts to address infant, maternal, and child health project a life course view toward health promotion and disease prevention. At the beginning of this decade, fewer than half of all pregnancies were planned. There are a wide range of health concerns linked to unintentional pregnancies. In an effort to address this situation, preconception programs have been established, focusing on improving a woman's health before she conceives. These efforts draw on a range of evidence-based intervention strategies. The life course approach encourages sustained attention to quality of life and addresses the challenges of both male and female fertility. It is estimated that approximately 7.3 million American women between the ages of 15 and 44 have visited fertility service providers, including for diagnosis and counseling.
Health disparities are widespread in fertility matters and are particularly prevalent among African-American women. Observers note that the situation may worsen with ongoing changes in childbearing practices (Anon., n.d.).
References
Anon., n.d. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 27 August 2016].
Anon., n.d. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 27 August 2016].
Howard K. Koh, Carter R. Blakey, & Allison Y. Roper, 2014. Healthy People 2020: A Report Card on the Health of the Nation. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 311(24), pp. 2475–2476.
Paula A. Braveman, et al., 2011. Health Disparities and Health Equity: The Issue Is Justice. American Journal of Public Health, 101(1), pp. 149–155.
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