Health disparities present in the U.S. (Coursework Sample)

PATIENTS IN THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM Professor’s name Date Institution Introduction There should be equality in access to healthcare and provision to healthcare without favouring patients of a certain socioeconomic group, ethnic or race. In United States of America provision healthcare and access to health is based on race, socioeconomic group and ethnics resulting to health disparities within the state. The most common ethnic disparity is based on the African Americans, native Americans, Latinos and Asian Americans. Health disparities present in the U.S. Healthcare sector in United States for fifty years has been tirelessly working to save lives, reduce the cost and promote health but the problem of health disparities has become a major bottleneck to hospitals achieving their goals (Andersen, 2015). Study show that the life expectancy of Americans increased from seventy years in 1960, to around seventy nine years in 2011. Considering life expectancy as the outcome, even though injury, disability, preventive illness and death affect the entire society that varies in terms race, socioeconomic status, sex and geographical location. It has been found that the life expectancy of whites is longer than that of the blacks and women live longer than men. The regional differences are also affecting the life expectancy among the whites and blacks living in the Southwest of United States. In America today, blacks, Hispanics, Indians and nonelderly adults are likely to go home without being provided the needed care or experience delays than the whites (Henderson, 2011). Medical and health coverage differ between African Americans and the white Americans thus the percentage of people covered is seventy nine percent and eighty eight percent respectively creating a disparity to access of care. African Americans are woefully represented during trials aligned to cancer and this disparity have shown a higher cancer incidences and mortality for the blacks compared to the white who are well represented during trials to proceed to early diagnosis and treatment. Discussion of the different experiences patients experience in the U.S Patients in the US undergo many experiences in the health care systems. To start with, I will focus on the training and monitoring of standardized patients (Hobfoll, 2012). For the training, it focuses on portraying the emotional and historical features of depression and adjustment disorder. The standardized patients are monitored during the training and the data is collected by the experienced trainers who also review the audiotapes and the reporting forms for each patient. The patient with disabilities such as stroke, closed head injuries or spinal cord injuries experience or undergoes physical and mental cutoffs. Due to the changing of the diseases and injuries, many of these patients experience transformation in their personal identity and the physical abilities that is the things the patient can or can be able to do. They experience changes in their social roles such as the family roles. For the patients with head injuries, exhibit childish explosions of inappropriate behaviors which make him or her not to serve as the role model to his or her children. The patients who experience long-term disabilities undergo social humiliation. They get stigmatized by other individuals in the healthy system or in the community. Patients experience difficulties in ethical reflection and decision making. Caring for a patient requires a unique decision making and ethical reflection. Health care apply principles such as beneficence, autonomy, justice and non-malfeasance by using the ethical framework. This kind of decision making is rationalistic, fact oriented and detached (Catlin, 2013). This approach is not effective in that it cannot be used to uncover the moral concern of ethical issues that are associated with the long term patients. This ethical reflection does not capture the concerns and needs for all stakeholders such as the patient’s family and the society members. The ethical decision made for example by the health care individuals without involvement of the patient or the other stakeholders really affects the patient in one way or another. Discussion of how patients can become involved in the healthcare system In the wake of the 20th century, patients have been increasingly got involved in the healthcare processes and thus the health sector has been redesigning its operation processes in order to improve patient safety. In the United States and other areas in the world, the concept of patient involvement ha...