{"id":9282,"date":"2022-04-12T13:12:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-12T19:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/blog\/?p=9282"},"modified":"2022-04-12T13:12:00","modified_gmt":"2022-04-12T19:12:00","slug":"recognizing-national-minority-health-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dsiohn098w.mpqhf.org\/blog\/recognizing-national-minority-health-month\/","title":{"rendered":"Recognizing National Minority Health Month"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Mountain-Pacific Quality Health<\/em><\/p>\n

April 12, 2022<\/em><\/p>\n

The term \u201chealth disparity\u201d is used more and more these days, but what does it mean? <\/em><\/p>\n

When a population\u2019s race or ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, income or even where they live contributes to higher rates of a disease, health condition or their inability to access needed health care services, that group of people is experiencing a health disparity.<\/p>\n

Talking about health disparities goes hand-in-hand with talking about health equity, another term used a lot these days. Health equity is pretty much the opposite of health disparity. It\u2019s when everyone has a fair chance at being as healthy as possible\u2014and it\u2019s the focus of National Minority Health Month<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Why is this important?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Good health and quality health care are central to our wellbeing and happiness<\/a>. Health equity, however, is not as common as it should be. For example, COVID-19 has disproportionally affected racial and ethnic minority groups and people who live in rural communities. These populations have had worse COVID symptoms, more hospitalizations and more deaths compared to other groups. Why? The biggest factors are low income and not being able to afford treatment, discrimination\/racism and not having access to health care services.<\/p>\n

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)<\/a> offers a list of other factors that can also contribute to health disparities, including:<\/p>\n