Most of us are taught from an early age that to be healthy, we must eat healthy foods. Poor diets – those in which people consume excess fat, sugar and calories – are linked to a range of health problems including obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and hypertension. For some…more.
Social determinants of health (SDOH) are the non-medical factors that influence health outcomes. They are the conditions in the environment where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks. SDOH contribute to wide health disparities…more.
As President and Chief Executive Officer of the HealthWell Foundation, I am acutely aware of the significant cost barriers that keep patients from accessing life-changing, and oftentimes lifesaving, medications. Decades of scientific breakthroughs have created a world in which many patients with chronic illnesses have real hope for relief of…more.
Access to health care and the opportunity to achieve optimal health should not depend on where people live, their socioeconomic status, or their race and ethnicity, but as the COVID-19 pandemic has shown, that is not always the case. COVID-related disparities served to shine a light on other areas of…more.
Throughout 2022, Real World Health Care is covering the issue of racial and ethnic health disparities. This week, we explore the topic through the lens of gout, a type of arthritis that has a higher prevalence among racial and ethnic minorities, especially Blacks, than whites. Michael Spigler, vice president of…more.
Studies have shown that cancer disproportionately impacts racial and ethnic minority groups, however, these groups remain underrepresented in cancer clinical trials.1,2,3 With unique insights into issues facing underrepresented patient populations, the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) recently developed consensus-driven recommendations to improve diversity, equity and accessibility in cancer research.…more.
Social determinants of health (SDOH) have long-term, far-reaching, and not always obvious ramifications in people’s lives, including their risk for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). These disparities were made clear by a 2020 report issued by UsAgainstAlzheimer’s and the Urban Institute. The report found that deep social inequities –…more.
More than 9.2 million Americans live with gout, but only 10 percent of people with gout are getting the ongoing treatment they need. The lack of proper treatment is particularly acute among Black patients, who have a 25 percent higher prevalence of the disease but are much less likely to…more.
Precision medicine – treatments that are based on an individual’s specific genetics and the cancer cell’s genes – holds great promise for lung cancer patients. For all patients, precision medicine is made possible through a type of advanced diagnostic testing called biomarker testing. However, for some racial and ethnic minorities,…more.
A study published by the Commonwealth Fund in late 2021 found that health systems across the United States are failing people of color. According to the study, Achieving Racial and Ethnic Equity in U.S. Health Care: A Scorecard of State Performance, Black Americans in nearly every state are more likely…more.
