Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsWhat Is the Definition of Health Disparities?Examples of Health DisparitiesCauses of DisparityImproving Health Equity
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
What Is the Definition of Health Disparities?
Examples of Health Disparities
Causes of Disparity
Improving Health Equity
Health disparities occur when people and communities experience higher rates ofbreast cancer,obesity, heart disease, and other challenges for specific reasons that include race and ethnicity, access to care, poverty, and environmental risk.These health disparities have many causes.
Mistrust in the health care system, for example, can contribute to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention challenges among Black people.Transportation can be a barrier for older adults, making it hard to keep appointments, but also for those living infood deserts(neighborhoods without grocery stores that offer healthy foods).
This article discusses health disparities, the definition, and the impacts they can have on affected people. It explains the causes and how that connects to public health in the community.
The Office of Health Equity in the United States defines health disparities as the preventable factors and differences that disproportionately affect certain people and groups. They contribute to health consequences because of disease, injury and violence, and the lack of prevention opportunities.
These factors include:
Historically, these characteristics have been linked to discrimination or exclusion. When a particular group of people doesn’t have the same kind of access to health care, education, or healthy behaviors, it can cause them to fall behind their peers on all kinds of health measures. These disparities can often persist for generations.
Maternal health is an example of health disparities with generational impact. Access to quality prenatal care, the ability to affordvitaminsand healthy foods, and environmental and social factors like chronic stress all influence the health of a developing fetus.In addition, the limited care of gestational diabetes can contribute to the risk of developingtype 2 diabetesin low-income people.
Health Disparities and COVID-19
Health Disparities: What They Mean and Examples
Causes of Health Disparities
Disparities often have multiple root causes, but there are a few major inequities in the United States that are known to contribute to health gaps between groups.
For example, Black people in communities historically limited in their housing options due to segregation and redlining (banking and loan denials) often have fewer affordable neighborhoods today. That can mean a higher risk of lead in the paint or water, limited healthy food access, or poor access to parks and recreation.
Transportation challenges can mean it’s hard to schedule mental health therapy, and lack of quality jobs and health insurance mean that it’s not accessible or the cost is out of reach. These health disparities lead to new consequences and general challenges affect the wider community, too.Parents too sick to work, for example, can face income loss. Unemployed, low-income individuals are less likely to have access to health insurance. If they’re unable to afford health care, the lack of treatment for existing conditions can make them worse (and less likely to find a new job).
Income Inequality
The U.S. healthcare system is one of the most expensive in the world, spending roughly twice as much on healthcare as other high-income nations.Americans pay more for health services like clinic visits, hospital stays, and prescription drugs. A growing income gap between the wealthy and poor, many of whom have limited healthcare access, contributes to health disparities.
Systemic Discrimination or Exclusion
Health Inequities and Future GenerationsResearcher Camara Phyllis Jones uses a gardening analogy to illustrate two flower boxes, one with less productivity due to poor soil quality. The next-generation seeds will drop into the same soil, year after year, with one flower box thriving and the other struggling because their initial access to resources affected future generations.
Health Inequities and Future Generations
Researcher Camara Phyllis Jones uses a gardening analogy to illustrate two flower boxes, one with less productivity due to poor soil quality. The next-generation seeds will drop into the same soil, year after year, with one flower box thriving and the other struggling because their initial access to resources affected future generations.
Environmental Factors
Access to parks, bike lanes, clean public transportation, supermarkets, social opportunities, and more (for people of all ages) can help to shape the choices people have available to them.
Strategies for Reducing Health Disparities
Closing the gap in health outcomes is no easy task. Causes are often multi-layered. Solutions would need to address not only the root cause of a given disparity but also the original context.
These include economic stability, education, and other factors that contribute to health disparities. The initiative is aligned with others from the Office of Health Equity, medical professionals and organizations, social and community activists, and countless others seeking to improve health care access and provide remedies to health disparities.
Summary
Health disparities are an underlying cause of many medical disorders and mental health diagnoses, with vulnerable populations affected disproportionately because of race, income, and other factors.
These causes of health disparity can be changed with intentional polices and approaches to establish health equity. Initiatives and interventions vary widely, from basic approaches to improve healthy food access to more complex policies to improve access to affordable care and complex procedures.
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Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
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