Access Is Key to Ending Health Disparities

Summary

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The state report is not all bad news. Areas where racial minority groups are better off than whites include lower rates of smoking, chronic lung disease and suicide among African Americans, and lower infant death rates for Latinas [see "The Paradox Lives," below]. And unlike in the past, when the state published health data by race for "white" and "minority" only, the new report makes use of population files from the National Center for Health Statistics and other methods for producing a more complete picture.

The Washington Post reported that the words "disparities" and "inequality" were removed from key findings in a draft report and were replaced by the phrase "inequalities in quality." And while the initial report stated clearly that "racial, ethnic and socioeconomic disparities are national problems that affect health care at all points in the process," the final draft said merely that "some socioeconomic, racial, ethnic and geographical differences exist."

First and foremost for the state's Latino community is addressing the language barrier that keeps many Spanish-speaking residents from getting or even seeking health care, [Andrea Bazan-Manson] says. "If you ask people in the community about their top health concerns, they won't even talk about health," she says. "They'll talk about the language barrier." Health organizations should be hiring bilingual staff as a matter of course, Bazan-Manson adds, instead of relying on part-time translators or children who are all too often asked to interpret complex health messages for their parents.

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Access Is Key to Ending Health Disparities

A report released last week on persistent health gaps for racial and ethnic groups in North Carolina was long on description and short on prescription. The report--the second such study in four years by the state offices of Health Statistics and Minor...

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