Abstract
Racial and ethnic minorities and other vulnerable populations have long experienced severe and pervasive disparities in health status and outcomes, and faced barriers to obtaining quality health care and public health services. This is especially evident in behavioral health. According to several ground-breaking reports, African Americans, Hispanics, American Indians/Alaska Natives, Asian/Pacific Islander Americans, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals are particularly at risk for mental illness, substance use, and other chronic conditions (Institute of Medicine, 2002, 2011; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2001).
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Notes
- 1.
Social determinants of health are conditions, in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that impact health status and quality of life such as safe housing, fresh and healthy foods, quality education, transportation, and exposure to crime. Physical determinants of health include the natural environment such as green space, built environment such as buildings, sidewalks, and bike lanes, and exposure to toxic substances. (Center for Disease Control—Healthy People 2020).
- 2.
Cultural competence “refers to awareness of unique, and defining characteristics of the populations for which health professionals provide care…. [and] entails understanding the importance of social and cultural influence on patients’ health beliefs and behaviors.” Some scholars have used cultural responsiveness, cultural sensitivity, or cultural humility, but “cultural competence moves beyond sensitivity or awareness to action” (Harvard Catalyst, 2010, Cultural competence in research, Boston, MA www.mfdp.med.harvard.edu.
- 3.
Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, Senate Finance Committee, House Energy and Commerce Committee, House Ways and Means Committee, and House Education and Labor Committee.
- 4.
Several of the materials have been archived on the National Health Law Program’s website www.healthlaw.org and may be accessed by clicking on the tab “Issues” and then clicking on the tab “Health Disparities.”
- 5.
From 2003 to 2006 the combined cost of health disparities totaled $1.24 trillion in our country. This report also found that in the same time period, eliminating certain health disparities would have reduced direct health care expenditures by $229.4 billion.
- 6.
National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius (11-393).
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Dawes, D.E. (2013). Health Reform: A Bridge to Health Equity. In: Culp, A. (eds) Child and Family Advocacy. Issues in Clinical Child Psychology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7456-2_4
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