Diabetes among African Americans
Rafeeu Ayo Badmus
April 10 2012.
Table of Contents
Executive Summary………………………………………………………………………………………….3
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………….4
Literature Review…………………………………………………………………………………………….4
Racial and Health Disparities……………………………………………………………………………..5
Stakeholders…………………………………………………………………………………………………….7
Healthy People…………………………………………………………………………………………………8
Model Programs……………………………………………………………………………………………….8
Policy Recommendations………………………………………………………………………………….11
Summary…………………………………………………………………………………………………………12
Executive Summary
This paper tackled about the urban health problem of diabetes among African Americans. It was discovered that diabetes is one of the most common health problems being experienced by African Americans, and the impact of diabetes on African Americans is disproportionate. The absence of health care was revealed to be a huge factor in the emergence of diabetes and other urban health problems among African Americans. Model programs such as the Live Empowered, Project Power and Just a Touch were discussed and policy recommendations were provided in this paper.
Introduction
Diabetes pertains to a group of illnesses that is characterized by an unusually increased amount of glucose in the blood of the person. Because of this, the person experiences problems in the shortage of insulin. This disease can result to significant complications that can even kill the person who has this condition. However, the good news is that diabetic people can be able to do certain measures to make sure that they are able to manage this disease and reduce the possibility that more complications would emerge. Diabetes is actually one of the primary causes of mortality and incapacity in America, and the overall expenses connected to the treatment of this disease is estimated to around the $200 billion every year. This paper will discuss the urban health problem of diabetes among African Americans.
Literature Review
There are three different types of diabetes that affects African Americans. The first is Type 1 diabetes which runs in the history of the family (Baptiste-Roberts, 2007). This is caused by a malfunctioning immune system which annihilates the beta cells that are responsible for the production of insulin. The African Americans diagnosed with type 1 diabetes have to deal with this disease by injecting themselves with insulin. The usual signs of type 1 diabetes being experienced by African Americans include the frequent feeling of being thirsty, sudden drop in weight, uncontrollable hunger and getting tired easily even with light work. What is dangerous about type 1 diabetes is that the African Americans who have this condition is at risk of experiencing coma once this diseased is not identified immediately and given the proper treatment. Type 1 diabetes affects an estimated 5% of all African Americans identified to have diabetes.
The second type of diabetes that affects African Americans is type 2 diabetes. This happens when the body is unable to produce sufficient amounts of insulin or is unable to utilize the insulin in an effective manner. This type of diabetes is normally being experienced by African American adults above the age of 40 but has also started to occur in younger African Americans (Robbins, 2000). The usual signs of type 2 diabetes that are being experienced by African Americans include fatigue, wounds that take a long time to heal and other symptoms that are similar to type 1 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes affects an estimated 95 percent of all African Americans identified to have diabetes.
The third type of diabetes that affects African Americans is gestational diabetes, and this is something that emerges while the female is pregnant. Female African Americans who experienced this kind of diabetes have a high possibility that they will eventually have Type 2 diabetes after ten years, and this is something that is considered as scary and worrisome for this type of diabetes.
Racial and Health Disparities
The impact of diabetes on African Americans is disproportionate. An estimated four million of African Americans with the age of twenty and above are diabetic. They are more prone to have diabetes as compared to non Hispanic whites. Once an African American reaches the age of 65, there is a 25% possibility that he or she will eventually become a diabetic in the long run. Female African Americans who are already above the age of fifty five have a 25% possibility that they are already a diabetic (Omolafe, 2010). All of these statistics simply point out the reality that indeed diabetes has disproportionate impact among African Americans in comparison to other populations.
Diabetes is connected with a significant risk of scary complications, and there are people who are even under a great amount of risk. It is a known fact that excellent care and control of diabetes could aid in minimizing the risk of people: nonetheless, there are plenty of African Americans who are not really knowledgeable and informed that they are already a diabetic (Calvin, 2011). It is only after they have already experienced some of its complications that they finally realize that they already are a diabetic.
Blindness is one of the most common complications of African Americans. There is 50% possibility that African Americans will experience a condition called diabetic retinopathy once they become diabetic in comparison to non-Hispanic whites. This is the most typical eye problem that is being experienced by diabetic African Americans and a primary reason why African Americans go blind. This is due to the problems that are being experienced by the blood vessels of the retina.
In some African Americans who have diabetic retinopathy, the blood vessels of their eyes experience swelling and fluid leakage. In other cases, some African Americans experience the problem of the emergence of new blood vessels. This is something that can really be worrisome for the diabetic African Americans because they will slowly but surely lose their eyesight as their diabetes continues to get worse (Skelly, 2006). This condition destroys the blood vessels of both eyes, so there is no chance for diabetic African Americans to be able to reverse the situation and be able to prevent blindness from happening. This is why it is always best that diabetes is detected early to prevent this scary complication from getting worse.
Stakeholders
The stakeholders who are affected by the designated urban health problem are African Americans. In comparison to other minority groups, African-Americans experience the most and usually the biggest disparities in health risks. These people experience more sickness, incapacity and even mortality. Majority of the health problems being experienced by African Americans are chronic, and this implies that they will have to be endured by these people for a lengthy period of time. In the case of diabetes, there is no cure for this health problem. Once an African American becomes a diabetic, he or she will carry this condition until his or her death. Thus, the only thing that they can do is to make sure that they are able to prevent any complications that could emerge because of their diabetic condition.
The absence of health care is a huge factor in the emergence of diabetes and other urban health problems among African Americans. They are not able to experience health care unlike people in the majority. Even if African Americans receive health care, they do not get in when they need it the most (Vaccarino, 2001). This implies that health issues like diabetes are not detected during its initial stages, when the African Americans can still be able to prevent any complications from emerging. Thus, they are not able to have the opportunity to treat diabetes before it becomes even worse. Aside from this, slavery and poverty also have played significant roles in the in the emergence of diabetes and other urban health problems among African Americans. It is clear that many African Americans do not have any confidence that the government can be able to provide them with the healthcare services that they deserve to get.
Healthy People
Healthy people can be described as those who are free from diseases and any health problems. They are able to enjoy their lives and become productive in their tasks and responsibilities in life because they are not worried about going to the hospital all the time to receive treatment for their health problems. Healthy people are able to keep improving with their lives because there are no delays or unnecessary interruptions that they experience because of various health problems. They are free from stress and are able to communicate effectively with their loved and friends because they are always in a great physical, psychological and emotional state of mind.
Model Programs
The first model program is Live Empowered. This program provides a direct approach to improve the awareness of the African Americans regarding the serious health consequences of diabetes as well as remind them of the significance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle as an effective preventive measure. This program recognizes the reality that African-Americans experience the most and usually the biggest disparities in health risks (Ford, 1998). Thus, it is the objective of this program to make sure that the African Americans are at least aware of what diabetes is all about, why they have to take this health problem seriously and what they can do to be able to avoid getting this health problem. Even if the African Americans will not be able to access health care services as much as they want to, they can still do something to be able to avoid getting victimized by diabetes by being aware and knowing what they have to do to remain healthy and fit.
The Live Empowered program produces culturally relevant materials and community centred initiatives that help to inform African Americans regarding how prevalent diabetes is and the complications it brings to the African Americans. The long term goal of the Live Empowered program is to be able to achieve an African American community that is not dealing with problems brought about by diabetes and its negative impacts and thus allow these people to become healthier.
The community-centred programs are vital to the Live Empowered program in the sense that these enable more African Americans living in various communities to get to become more knowledgeable of diabetes, how it can be prevented and how to manage this health problem. Because of the health disparity issues that the African Americans are experiencing, there are still many of them who are being deprived of the knowledge regarding diabetes which only leads to their untimely demise. Once they realize they have diabetes, it is already too late as the complications have destroyed their body.
Project POWER is another model program wherein the church is actively involved in making the African Americans more aware of diabetes and the importance of living a healthy lifestyle. In recognition of the health disparities being experienced by the African Americans, the church has become actively involved in helping the cause of African Americans at least in dealing with diabetes which is one of the most common health problems being experienced by these people (Dodani, 2009). The African Americans have certainly found a strong ally as the church is willing to do year-long initiatives to be able make sure that they are able to get protected from becoming diabetic.
There are various workshops that Project POWER organizes to be able to make sure that African Americans are able to become informed about diabetes and living a healthy lifestyle. These include Diabetes Day, Power over Diabetes, Fit for Master’s Use, Taste & See, A Clean Heart and Train up a Child. All of these workshops are supervised by an ambassador who is very competent and knowledgeable of diabetes as a health problem. The workshops last for about an hour and complete with all the materials that are needed to inform the African American participants about diabetes. It is estimated that there are 25 African American participants in every workshop, and they are being advised to complete all of the workshops in a span of 12 months.
Just a Touch is the third and last model program that is sponsored by companies Phizer and Baxter. This program provides lectures among African Americans with regard to diabetes and the most common complications of this health problem, such as kidney damage and blindness. Even if the African American participants already have diabetes, they are still being encouraged to attend so that they can be able to become more knowledgeable of the complications of this health problem and be able to better manage diabetes to prevent the complications from emerging (Ganzer, 2010). The main goal of this program is to make sure that the African American participants will become fully aware of the symptoms connected to the typical complications of diabetes and know what they can do to address the symptoms before they get worse. Even if they don’t have access to healthcare services, the African American are smart enough to do what they need to do avoid getting diabetes and manage this health problem once they do get it.
Policy Recommendations
One of the policy recommendations is to improve the accessibility of healthcare services to the African Americans through the establishment of income-related standards for premiums and other health care expenses. Aside from this, it will also help if there will be more subsidies that can be given to African Americans that do not have high incomes. It is well known fact that health care expenses are a specific obstacle for African Americans since they are usually the people who are poor.
Another policy recommendation is to provide support to community-based programs that are aimed towards health promotion and preventive initiatives especially in the case of diabetes, with particular focus on African Americans (Marshall, 2005). This is critical towards helping the African Americans to have access to affordable preventive and primary care and eliminate the cultural obstacles to care. This will also help to guarantee that the African Americans who have been able to have access to insurance are able to know and effectively use the healthcare services that have been provided for them especially regarding diabetes.
Lastly, there is a need to create benchmarks which can minimize disparities in healthcare and offer incentives to certain institutions which are able to do so. This will be able to help in enhancing the quality of care especially on the part of African Americans who have diabetes. This will be a perfect remedy for African Americans who are undeniably getting lesser health care services and poor quality services which have led to an increased mortality rate and disease rate.
Summary
There is no doubt that diabetes is one of the most common health problems being experienced by African Americans, and the impact of diabetes on African Americans is disproportionate. The absence of health care is a huge factor in the emergence of diabetes and other urban health problems among African Americans. They are not able to experience health care unlike people in the majority. Even if African Americans receive health care, they do not get in when they need it the most. Fortunately, there are model programs such as the Live Empowered, Project Power and Just a Touch that are able to help a lot towards making sure that the African Americans are able to know more about diabetes and help themselves to avoid getting this health problem. Policy recommendations such as improving the accessibility of healthcare services to the African Americans, providing support to community-based programs and creating benchmarks which can minimize disparities in healthcare can really help a lot to provide better healthcare services for African Americans with diabetes.
REFERENCES
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Skelly, A. (2006). “African American Beliefs about Diabetes.” Western Journal of Nursing Research, Vol. 28, No. 1, pp. 9-29
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