Health disparities: Encyclopedia II - Health disparities - Causes of health disparities

Health disparities - Causes of health disparities

There is debate about what causes health disparities between ethnic and racial groups. However, it is generally accepted that disparities can result from three main areas:

• From the personal, socioeconomic, and environmental characteristics of different ethnic and racial groups (such as how certain racial groups, on average, live in poorer areas with high incidents of lead-based paint, which can harm children).
• From the barriers certain racial and ethnic groups encounter when trying to enter into the health care delivery system; and
• From the quality of health care different ethnic and racial groups receive.

Each of these dimensions have been suggested as possible causes for disparities between racial and ethnic groups. However, most attention on the issue has been given to the health outcomes that result from differences in access to medical care among groups, and the quality of care different groups receive.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Causes of health disparities", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki