Factors Contributing to Health Disparities
**There are a variety of factors involved with unequal and unjust treatment of vulnerable populations.

**This Discussion asks you to describe those factors and how culture influences disparities of particular populations.

*Consider possible explanations for disparities between populations with respect to your Healthy People assigned focus area, my assigned area * Environmental Health.

*What socio-ecological factors contribute to the existence of health disparities? Examples include socioeconomics and education.

*Give an example or examples of how populations experience unequal treatment and disparity in healthcare. Provide some statistics to help illustrate this point from the CDC, the textbook, your Resources this week, or another reliable source.

*How might one’s culture serve as a barrier to equal treatment when it comes to healthcare? Give an example.

(Note: Please remember that culture is not skin color. Please review the definition of culture before preparing your response.
Draw on your textbook, resources found in the Resources area of the course, and any credible documentation you find in the library or online to compose your response. Be sure to paraphrase in your own words and credit your sources in your post parenthetically as well as reference them at the end in correct APA format.

Resources:
Course Text: Coreil, J. (Ed.). (2010). Social and behavioral foundations of public health (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

.Chapter 3, “Social Epidemiology”

This chapter will expand your knowledge to include the field of social epidemiology, focusing on the unequal distribution of disease patterns across social groups.
?Chapter 9, “Health Disparities, Diversity, and Cultural Competence”

The authors provide a critical perspective on the impact of diversity and cultural competence on solving the problem of health care disparities.

Article: Sen, K., & Bonita, R. (2000). Global health status: Two steps forward, one step back. This article makes the point that although there has been impressive improvement in the health status of individuals around the globe, there is an urgent need for better methods of accurately assessing health status.

Report: Institute of Medicine. (2002). Unequal treatment: What healthcare providers need to know about racial and ethnic disparities in health-care: Shaping the future for health. Retrieved from http://www.iom.edu/~/media/Files/Report%20Files/2003/Unequal-Treatment-Confronting-Racial-and-Ethnic-Disparities-in-Health-Care/Disparitieshcproviders8pgFINAL.pdf

Report: United Nations. (2009). The Millennium Development Goals report 2009. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/MDG_Report_2009_ENG.pdf
Read pages 24–41 about the goals that relate to health care in general and, more specifically, health disparities.