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Health Disparities Module One NU 712

NU 712- 001: Clinical Prevention and Population Health

Dr. Kimberly Helms

September 15, 2023

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Health Disparities Module One NU 712

Introduction

Health disparities are differences that are preventable with injury, disease, or violence.

Complete and thorough care is required for all patients even when disadvantaged (Nash, 2021).

As providers, it must be our mission to care for patients regardless of situations and biases. Over

27 million Americans have diabetes and live with it daily (Shoe, 2023). They have to have

certain medications in order to live, so why is it so expensive? The costs of medications for these

patients are increasing all the time. This makes them have to decide if the medications are worth

even getting when compared to other necessities.

What Is a Primary Health Disparity You Encounter in Your Nursing Practice,

Community, or State? Discuss This Health Disparity in Detail Using Scholarly Articles or

Websites.

As a registered nurse at a hospital in the third largest city in Alabama, people from all

over the state come to seek care. On the floor, patients who have Diabetes Mellitus (DM), often

get admitted. The nickname “diabetes belt” has been given to 15 states due to how many people

are diagnosed, and Alabama is included (Walker, 2016). Once hospitalized, it is often discovered

that the reason the patient did not take the medication was because of the cost of them. This is a

preventable issue that is not acceptable. From 2013 to 2018, there was a 164 percent increase in

the cost of one vial of insulin. Three manufacturers control the production and sale of insulin

products (Brown, 2020). These manufacturers get to decide how much they will charge and how

much of the medications they will produce.

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What Issues, Behaviors, or Circumstances That Make Individuals Vulnerable to

This Health Disparity?

A reason for this health disparity could be that patients with DM do not have proper

funds for a multitude of reasons. Insulin is expensive, and as stated above, only three companies

control the production and sale of insulin (Brown, 2020). DM is a disease that can be genetic or

environmental.

An additional reason is that children are a part of a vulnerable population and have to

have support from caregivers. 24 percent of Americans under the age of 20 are diagnosed with

diabetes (Curley, 2020). To decrease the number of children diagnosed every year primary

prevention could be used, and interventions could start as early as pregnancy continue through

childhood, and eventually lead into adulthood (Curley, 2020).

What Objectives in Healthy People 2030 (Topics and Objectives) Relate to This Disparity?

A topic created by Healthy People 2030 is to reduce the burden of diabetes and improve

the quality of life for people at risk and who have the disease. Some objectives found by Healthy

People 2030 are to reduce the number of diabetes cases diagnosed yearly, reduce the number of

adults who do not know they have prediabetes, and increase the number of people with diabetes

who get proper education. Making people aware that they have prediabetes helps them to take

preventative measures helping them not have to use insulin. If a patient receives a proper

education, then they will know ways to help lower the need for insulin decreasing the cost.

Lastly, decreasing the number of cases diagnosed by year will help the patient’s cost of

healthcare (Healthy People 2030).

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References

Brown-Georgi, J., Chhabra, H., & Vigersky, R. A. (2021). The Rising Cost of Insulin for Pump

Users: How Policy Drives Prices. Journal of Diabetes and Science Technologies, 15(5),

1177–1180.

Cupp-Curley, A. L. (Ed.). (2020). Population-Based Nursing: Components and Competencies

for Advanced Practice (3rd ed.). Springer Publishing Company.

Nash, D. B., Skoufalos, A., Fabius, R. J., & Oglesby, W. H. (2021). Population Health: Creating

a Culture of Wellness (3rd ed.). Jones and Bartlett Learning.

Shao, H., Shi, L., Fonseca, V., Omar-Alsaleh, A. J., Gill, J., & Nicholls, C. (2022). Cost-

effectiveness analysis of once-daily insulin glargine 300 U/mL versus insulin degludec

100 U/mL using the BRAVO diabetes model. Diabetes Medicine, 40(9), 1–9.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services & Office of Disease Prevention and Health

Promotion. (n.d.). Healthy People 2030. https://health.gov/healthypeople/objectives-and-

data/browse-objectives/diabetes

Walker, R. J., Williams, J. S., & Egede, L. E. (2016). Impact of Race/Ethnicity and Social

Determinants of Health on Diabetes Outcomes. The American Journal of the Medical

Sciences, 351(4), 366–373.