Health Disparities in Latino Communities

Health Disparities, Health Equity, and Social Justice The concept of health disparities most often refers to differences in health status and quality of health care across racial, ethnic, gender, and socioeconomic groups. By now, we know that racial and ethnic minorities in the United States, as a whole, have generally poorer health than Whites. Studies of health disparities and efforts to reduce them have traditionally focused on differences in health care access and healthrelated behavior based on race, ethnicity, and culture. For example, interventions may target individuals and groups and attempt to alter health care access and individually controlled lifestyle choices. These efforts include improving the access to and quality of health care and making sure that target populations are integrated into the health care system. Efforts could involve ensuring that the services of doctors and other health professionals are relatively affordable and making sure that health care providers and other practitioners are knowledgeable of and empathetic with cultural backgrounds of their clients and provide culturally appropriate service (e.g., language, educational materials). Thus the chief strategy to reduce health disparities is targeting individuals and groups and the health care system that treats them. In this way, health equity could be seen as the process of reaching individuals in order to reduce disparities in health.