Tashowna Clarke October 2, 2016

Week 6 Homework Written Assignment 5

Advocacy Paper: Healthy People/Healthy Communities

There are several national priorities of the National Healthcare and Disparities Report.

These priorities were initiated to ensure that all individuals in The United States receive

ample, affordable health care coverage and quality care. One of the aims that are associated with
 
ensuring this priority is the Healthy People/Healthy Communities agenda. This agenda is being 
 
used to mitigate the effects of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality (Ahrq.gov, 2016) 
 
My reason for addressing the agenda of Healthy People/Healthy Communities is to bring 
 
awareness to the issues that still exist, and attempt to initiate a plan to correct them. Some of the 
 
issues that exist in communities are a result of disparities. These disparities are heavily 
 
dependent on an individual’s social class, ethnicity and race. In the United States, there are six 
 
different social classes (Boundless, 2016). These social classes are categorized as upper class, 
 
new money, middle class, working class, working poor and poverty level (sparknotes.com,
 
2016). Although the U.S. has six different social classes, individuals who fall into the working 
 
class, working poor class, and poverty level may not be able to receive the same kind of care

that an individual in the upper class, middle class, and new money can. An individual’s health

and the kind of care you receive can be dependent on their ability to afford and pay for the care

they need. As a result of so many individuals not receiving the care they need, The Affordable

Care Act has been initiated to break the affordability barriers. When it comes to the ethnicity and

race disparities; it important that all healthcare professionals are educated and understand the

cultural diversities that exist between different ethnicities and races. By being culturally diverse
and understanding the illness that are dominant in, and plague each ethnicity or race medical 
 
professionals will have a better understanding of different approaches that can be taken, and
 
better screening techniques can be used to preserve life and prevent mortality. Research shows 
 
that some of the leading causes of morbidity in 2013, to name a few were diabetes, cancer, and 
 
heart disease. All racial and ethnic groups have been affected by or suffered from a medical 
 
condition or illness.        
 
One of the initiatives that I feel will remedy the issues discussed above is to create a

learning program not only to educate the health care professionals but educating the patients as

well. Patients need to know that not only is a health care professional there to assist with their

medical care but also to address and answer any questions or concerns they may have. In

addition, health care professional should not judge individual’s dependent on the type of

insurance they have. All individuals should receive ample and pertinent care. In order to gauge

any act that may be unethical or unjust to patients a patient survey should be given after each

patients visit. This will allow patients to anonymously report health care facilities behavior that

will be managed by an outside agency. They will be responsible for turning over this information

to American Medical Association (AMA), in which they will be responsible for imposing fines

to the agency who will be responsible for reprimanding the staff member for unethical behavior.

In order to get this initiative passed into law I will bring it to my supporting congressional

party that governs each borough or city in New York and discuss my proposal. Through

networking I will be able to reach out to other colleagues and share this information with them in

order to get additional support and a majority vote. In addition to the law makers and policy

changers, my position will be supported by patients. This initiative is in their best interest and it

will help to ensure that they receive what they are paying for, and ample health care. Thus
ensuring Healthy People/ Healthy Communities.

References:

Aims of the National Quality Strategy | Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality. (n.d.).
Retrieved from http://www.ahrq.gov/research/findings/nhqrdr/nhqdr15/aims.html

American Medical Association. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ama-assn.org/ama

Class Structure in the U.S. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.boundless.com/sociology/textbooks/boundless-sociology-textbook/stratification-
inequality-and-social-class-in-the-u-s-9/the-class-structure-in-the-u-s-75/class-structure-in-the-u-
s-442-10206/

Disparities in Health and Health Care: Five Key Questions and Answers | The Henry J. Kaiser
Family Foundation. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://kff.org/disparities-policy/issue-brief/disparities-
in-health-and-health-care-five-key-questions-and-answers/

Weissert, W. G., Weissert, C. S., & Weissert, C. S. (2012). Governing health: The politics of

health policy. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.