Abstract
Health care is an important lever for moderating the effects of social determinants on health. We present a model that describes the relationships among social disadvantage, health-care disparities, and health disparities. Improving access to health care and enhancing patient-provider interaction are critical pathways for reducing disparities. Increasing the diversity of the public health and health-care workforces is an efficient strategy for reducing disparities because it impacts both access to care and patient-provider communication. Federal policy makers should continue interest in workforce diversity to optimize the health of all Americans.
MeSH terms
-
Communication
-
Cultural Diversity
-
Delivery of Health Care / organization & administration
-
Ethnicity / statistics & numerical data
-
Federal Government
-
Health Services Accessibility / economics
-
Health Services Accessibility / organization & administration
-
Health Status Disparities
-
Health Workforce / statistics & numerical data
-
Healthcare Disparities* / organization & administration
-
Humans
-
Physician-Patient Relations
-
Racial Groups / statistics & numerical data
-
Social Determinants of Health
-
United States / epidemiology
-
United States Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality / organization & administration
-
United States Dept. of Health and Human Services / organization & administration
-
Vulnerable Populations / statistics & numerical data