Article Critique: “Health Disparities in Valley ZIP Codes”

Article Summary

Health disparities are studies of differences experienced by people in terms of health outcomes and provision. This article highlights how locations play key roles in health of people. This means that people from different locations tend to respond to diseases and treatment in different manners. The mode of health provision is also determined by policies in each location. Therefore, people from different places tend to have their policies regarding health.

Health Disparity

The article is highlighting location and social economic disparities. This is because; it covers several studies on how locations and policies determine social-economic status of people (Stuckler and Siegel, 2011). This directly reflects to how people acquire quality health because poor people tend to get low quality health services. In addition, inequality in distribution of resources, reflect to people’s health hence bringing the variation in life expectancies of people. This is evident where; the article indicates that there is a slight gap between life expectancies of people living in different economic back grounds.

Article Analysis

This information is vital because it helps governments to improve the quality of health among people in various locations. For instance, leaders may take a challenge of ensuring equity in distribution of resources hence uplifting people’s health. This disparity is caused by policies set by leaders to govern its people. For instance, policies that empower people lead to better health provision as opposed to policies that deteriorate their economic status. Locations affect health outcomes in a great way because of many factors some of which are natural (Matsumoto and Juang, 2012). This means that environmental factors may contribute to health outcomes where some areas are prone to communicable diseases than others. For instance, some diseases are rampant in tropical regions as opposed to other regions. This results due to climatic changes and lifestyles of people living in such regions.

Article Evaluation

The article has several recommendations regarding disparities in different locations. For example, the article recommends that governments must come with ideal polices to ensure that poverty levels are improved. This will alter health outcomes because people will be able to afford good lifestyles (Holmes, Rudge and Perron, 2012). This includes healthy eating and access to quality medical services. The article was well written because it covered several aspects contributing to the disparity and how it affected health outcomes. This is because the information included reports from various scholars and researchers regarding health disparity (Daniel, 2012).

The article included important information that might be used to contain challenges brought about the disparities. This is because it highlights all possible causes of health disparities in places with different zip codes. The disparities are real; therefore, it is important for research to be done in order to give proper guidance on how to deal with the health disparities (Hoberman, 2012). Human health is important hence calling for all measures possible meant to improve people’s lives. The article included all information necessary for its audience because the target readers will do something to improve the quality of health in such locations (Wailoo, Nelson and Lee, 2012). The government also need to do something to ensure that its people in these locations have quality health. For instance, the article recommends that existing policies may be improved and reinforced to ensure that everyone gets the best in terms of health. Furthermore, the article advocates for improvement of air standards and improvement of infrastructure. This is meant to improve health outcomes in all locations by trying to alter environmental conditions in favor of people living there.

References

Daniel, A. (2012). Report Shows Health Disparities in Valley ZIP Codes, California Healthline, 573(7), 90-91. Web.

Hoberman, J. (2012). Black and Blue: The Origins and Consequences of Medical Racism. California: University of California Press.

Holmes, D., Rudge, T. & Perron, A. (2012). Rethinking Violence in Health Care Settings: A Critical Approach. New York: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Matsumoto, D. & Juang, L. (2012). Culture and Psychology. Michigan: Cengage Learning.

Stuckler, D. & Siegel, K. (2011). Sick Societies: Responding to the Global Challenge of Chronic Disease. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Wailoo, K., Nelson, C. & Lee, C. (2012). Genetics and the Unsettled Past: The Collision of DNA, Race, and History. London: Rutgers University Press