Nursing
Title: Health Indicators and Health Disparities
Number of sources: 5
Paper instructions:
Public health nurses play an important role in addressing the health needs identified during the assessment process. Only by close examination of health data can health professionals identify health disparities and take steps to address them. Numerous sources of community-level health data are available to guide public health nurses as they partner with communities in the pursuit of health for all. It is vital that all public health professionals have an understanding of the health status of their city, county, region, state, and nation, as well as global health issues of concern. This week, you will analyze health indicators for your own community, identify potential health disparities seen in your own area, and then compare your findings with your classmates from across other localities.
For this Discussion, you will examine multiple localities to identify health disparities within and across states for a given health indicator.
To Prepare:
• Review this week’s Learning Resources.
• Take the Health Equity Quiz found on the Unnatural Causes website.
• Research health indicators (outcomes) for your state, city, and/or county.
• Research a state other than your own that is similar demographically with higher health indicators.
Post a health indicator for which your state ranks high and explain why you think your state ranks high on this indicator. Then, identify a health indicator for which your state ranks low and explain why you think your state ranks low on this indicator.
Compare your findings to a state that is similar to yours demographically but has higher indicators. Explain why you think this state is achieving higher health indicators than yours.
—
Health Indicators and Health Disparities
Student’s Name
Institution
Date
Health Indicators and Health Disparities are two important topics in public health.
Name of the student, institution, and date
Health indicators are a way of summarizing information about the health of a population or the performance of a system in use. Among the most widely used health indicators in the United States is life expectancy, which is measured in years. The calculation of life expectancy begins at birth and estimates the length of time an individual born today would live if the present mortality rates for all age groups remained constant throughout the course of a person’s life. The length of one’s life is a measure of the quality of healthcare available in various geographical places. Despite having similar demographics, Michigan County has a long life expectancy and a low mortality rate, in contrast to Wisconsin, which has a declining mortality rate and a rising life expectancy.
County Health Rankings and Roadmaps data revealed that the life expectancy in Michigan County is rather high, with an overall average of 78.1 years, according to the data collected by the organization. The figure represents an average distribution across different races, with Asians having an average age of 90.9 years, blacks having an average age of 73.6 years, whites having an average age of 78.8 years, Hispanics having an average age of 81.9 years, and people of other races having an average age of 77.2 years (County Health Rankings & Roadmaps). The numbers show an increased trend, growing from 76.2 years in the year 2000 to 76.2 years in the year 2010. Michigan’s life expectancy is very close to the national average of 77.9 years, which is the highest in the country (County Health Rankings & Roadmaps). According to these figures, the quality of healthcare in Michigan is superior than that of other states in the United States.
It is likely that the improved adoption of healthcare services and the improvement in living standards in Michigan contributed to the state’s increasing life expectancy. The percentage of uninsured is comparatively low, with an average of 7 percent, compared to a national figure of 10 percent, according to the latest data. A high rate of insurance enrollment indicates that more individuals are taking advantage of health-care services, improving their health, and living longer lives (Klein, & Huang, 2010). People’s living standards are also excellent, as evidenced by the fact that the median household income is a towering $59,500 and that an overwhelming 82 percent of the population can afford automobiles (County Health Rankings & Roadmaps). Income inequalities in Michigan are also very low, at 4.6, compared to a national average of 4.9, which suggests that people in Michigan can afford healthcare and take good care of themselves. Another indication of Michigan’s high living standard is the fact that the state’s income inequalities are also very low, at 4.6, compared to a national average of 4.9.
Michigan has a low mortality rate, which can be attributed to the minimal number of deaths that have been reported. Low rates of child, newborn, and premature death are observed in the county when age-adjusted mortality is considered. There are also few deaths due to overdoses, motor vehicle crashes, and other causes of death in the United States (Klein, & Huang, 2010). The mortality rate must decrease as a result of a decrease in the number of deaths. Increased accessibility to health-care services is a second factor that could have resulted in a reduction in mortality (Klein, & Huang, 2010). The population-to-healthcare-provider ratios are much lower than the national average, allowing for greater access to healthcare providers and, consequently, greater utilization of healthcare services (Burrows et al., 2018). According to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, the population to primary care physician ratio is 1,270:1, suggesting that one primary care physician serves 1270 people. In comparison, the ratio for the rest of the country is 1,320:1, meaning that a primary care physician in Michigan serves a larger number of people than a primary care physician in the rest of the country (County Health Rankings & Roadmaps: Michigan). People in Michigan also participate in preventative healthcare services such as flu vaccinations and mammography screenings, with participation rates in Michigan significantly higher than those in the rest of the country.
While Wisconsin has a demographic makeup that is very similar to Michigan’s, the state’s overall mortality rate has been increasing in recent years. This is remarkable given the fact that the county had lower rates of chronic disease fatalities, infant mortality, and premature age-adjusted mortality than the national average (CDC, National Center for Health Statistics: Wisconsin). Wisconsin’s old population is expanding, and people are living longer lives as a result of this. An rising proportion of deaths are being caused by unintended injuries such as falls, drowning, drug overdoses, motor vehicle accidents, and poisonings, rather than purposeful causes (CDC, Injury prevention & control). Deaths from unintentional injuries are usually a result of environmental factors, such as the degree of urbanization. A decline in urbanization increases the risk of injury mortalities.
In conclusion, health indicators tell of the wellbeing of a community or a county. Michigan’s health indicators show an improvement in people’s wellbeing. It has an increased life expectancy and low mortality rate because people increasingly have access to medical care services. But, the situation is slightly different in Wisconsin county because although there has been an improvement in the provision and the uptake of healthcare services, the mortality rate continues to rise over time. The increasing deaths result from increased unintentional injuries, which are a factor of the decline in urbanization.
References
Burrows, S., Auger, N., Gamache, P., & Hamel, D. (2018). Leading causes of unintentional injury and suicide mortality in Canadian adults across the urban-rural continuum. Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974), 128(6), 443–453.
Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Injury prevention & control. https://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/animated-leading-causes.html
Center for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Health Statistics: Wisconsin. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/states/wisconsin/wi.htm
County Health Rankings & Roadmaps. 2021 state level data and ranks: Michigan.
Klein, R. & Huang, D. (2010). Defining and measuring disparities, inequities, and inequalities in the Healthy People Initiative. National Center for Health Statistics.
