Monday, February 24, 2014

Indigenous Health Disparities

Health Disparities Research (HDR)
•It is clear that any research involving health disparities must also address and include the variables of race, poverty, gender and class .

•In addressing issues regarding race, it is important as researchers and health care professionals to also answer the question, Is race and ethnicity scientific categories? 

•Science, medicine and research are not value free. Excellent research must be objective; however, the social, cultural, and political context in which research is conducted shapes the truth perceived by the researcher upon which research questions are framed and asked. 

•Historically, scientific attempts to identify and understand racial differences have often been influenced by individuals who wanted to see differences among groups as being related to their worth or lack of worth as a human being e.g. the Tuskegee study and the scientific and research abuse associated with this and similar studies. 

•Holding biased views and values will influence the research questions and methods used which in turn produce flawed outcomes and “evidence”. Thereby increasing vulnerability and disparities e.g. flawed interventions can lead to culturally inappropriate strategies and interventions. 

•Despite the mandate by the National Institutes of Health in 1993 to include women and ethnic minorities in federally funded studies, their rate of participation inhealth studies has not achieved equivalence in relation to their numbers in the population. It is important to remember that when a study sample is not representative of the target population, the effectiveness of outcomes and evidence beyond the study population must be challenged and viewed with caution. 

•The continued underrepresentation of ethnic minorities in research results in a limited and inequitable base of knowledge regarding prevention modalities,health promotion and health maintenance. 

•Inequity and low participation of ethnic minorities in health studies compared to members of the majority population is a contributing factor in maintaininghealth disparities and the lack of ethnic and culturally specific evidence to address these disparities. 

•Clinical trials are the most rigorous study design for testing and developing health care interventions/treatments. Researchers should work on strategies that will enhance minority participation. Their work should also be critically examined for congruence with the values, beliefs and ethnicity of the individuals under study. 

•There is a need to examine issues related to access to care, processes of care and health outcomes as related to health promotion, health maintenance and evidence based interventions. 

•Disentangling race and socioeconomic status is important to a better understanding health inequalities and achieving valid outcome evidence. 

•How does one make decisions regarding how to classify race and ethnicity? This is and important issue to address when examining and studying racial and ethnic disparities. Is race self-identified? Is it based on color? Is it based on genetic make-up? Is it based on government classification or on what one person thinks another person’s ethnicity is based on how he or she looks?

Select a case study from a professional peer reviewed journal and discuss an identified problem or issue regarding a specific theoretical and/or methodological issues associated with health disparities research.

Review the article and write a two page insightful critique 

(1) Describe the case study
(2) Discuss your impression of the validity of the information presented in the study.
(3) Was the study objective in shaping the questions asked?
(4) Analyze and discuss the match between the theoretical frameworks, ethnicity and SES of the population of interest
(5) Was there a confounding of race, class, gender or SES in the study? Explain the rationale for your response
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