April is National Minority Health Month

Posted by Carolyn Martin on April 15th, 2015 Posted in: Health Literacy, Public Health

---

Typically most people think of minorities in regards to race or ethnicity.  However, minorities can also include sexual identity, age, geographic location, disability, gender and socioeconomics.  For many, being part of one or more of these categories often contributes to health disparities. According to Healthy People 2020, “To better understand the context of disparities, it is important to understand more about the U.S. population. ” In 2008, the U.S. population was estimated at 304 million.

• In 2008, approximately 33 percent, or more than 100 million persons, identified themselves as belonging to a racial or ethnic minority population.
• In 2008, 51 percent, or 154 million, were women.
• In 2008, approximately 12 percent, or 36 million people not living in nursing homes or other residential care facilities, had a disability.
• In 2008, an estimated 70.5 million persons lived in rural areas (23 percent of the population), while roughly 233.5 million lived in urban areas (77 percent).
• In 2002, an estimated 4 percent of the U.S. population aged 18 to 44 years identified themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.

Progress has been made to close the gap in health disparities but the work needs to continue to narrow the gap so that everyone has equal opportunities for better health whether it is accessing and understanding health insurance, health literacy, having preventative care available, or open communication between patients and clinicians.

The National Library of Medicine has some great resources to help inform all of us regarding some of the racial and ethnic health issues through their Special Information Services division at http://www.sis.nlm.nih.gov/outreach/minorityhealth_outreach.html

The Office of Minority Health includes information regarding cultural competency and an information resource center with information regarding policies and data.

Some additional resources to consider are: Rural Assistance Center (RAC), HealthReach.gov, SAMSHA.gov, MedlinePlus.gov, EthnoMed.org, WomensHealth.gov, and Disability.gov.

Spring is a time of new beginnings and it is also a time to learn something new about ourselves and those in our community. During the month of April, take this opportunity to become more aware of those who face additional obstacles and how to continue to break down the barriers to good health for everyone.