Much like every other industry, there are great disparities in healthcare due to differences among human beings like race, socioeconomic status, abilities, language knowledge, sexual orientation, gender, and other intersectional characteristics. Millions of citizens lose access to necessities such as hospital care, medicine, hospice, and other important healthcare services. However, these inequalities can be addressed and solved with the help of education. People with higher education have been proven to live longer and healthier lives. As wage gaps and incomes grow wider in the United States, here’s how education can address health disparities.
Analyze data to determine at-risk individuals
The first step towards addressing health disparities in education is to take the time to research the different groups of society which are at high risk of facing inequalities. Many of these members who are at risk are students who don’t get to focus on academic work because of health problems. Such students can always avail of services offered by the write my essays to get by at school. In order to give students equal access to education regardless of their health concerns, researchers and institutions need to collect and analyze data about students who may need special treatment when it comes to education.
Target efforts towards supporting them
Analyzing data and figuring out which groups are at risk isn’t enough if no action will be taken afterwards. The second and highly important step towards addressing health disparities in education is to take that quantifiable data and record it in a way that can be used to help individuals and society as a whole. There are many ways to analyze data and target efforts toward helping a section of society such as:
- Conducting primary or secondary research.
- Determining the reason for the disparity, i.e., race, gender, socioeconomic status, sexuality, or a combination of these factors.
- Figuring out the best action plan.
- Creating a budget for the strategy.
- Implementing it.
Implement interventions
While the above-mentioned steps are highly necessary and create the foundation for all the work to be done, there is no tangible action taken toward addressing health disparities in education until implementation is done. One of the things important for students and others to understand is the impact of programmatic efforts, such as the implementation of interventions to bridge the gap between requirements and the current availability of healthcare based on student health concerns.
Raise awareness
One might assume that all is said and done when interventions and programs to address health disparities are implemented. However, there is a lot of work to be done before and after the fact. For one, raising awareness to understand the cause of these inequalities can not only educate the public but also help prevent such incidents of disparity in the future. This step is necessary to make sure that we are not only working on fixing the issues of today but also hoping to make the world of tomorrow a better place for everyone.
Educate the public
As mentioned above, education is important for multiple reasons. But it doesn’t stop at raising awareness. Sure, individuals might read about a topic covering disparities in health and remember it for a few days, but what education does, as opposed to simply raising awareness, is make these health inequities a day-to-day issue for people to think about. Education is not only limited to the public but goes above and beyond this scope. To actually address health disparities, one must be ready to educate policymakers, governing bodies, official authorities, and other organizations on how these health and educational inequalities can be prevented in the future.
Build partnerships with organizations
Once the data had been analyzed, focus groups were targeted, programs implemented, the awareness was raised, and the public educated, it seems like the job is done, right? Well, not yet. Building relationships with organizations and agencies that work for sections of society worst affected by health disparities can help create change on a larger scale. Participating in campaigns that work hard to address the root causes of these inequalities in health and education, such as poverty and discrimination, also helps.
Monitor outcomes
When the work is done, it is not enough to call it a day and pack it up. Education organizations and governing bodies must keep an eye on the outcomes and consequences of implementing policies and observe the changes since addressing them. Simultaneously, these agencies must use the existing findings as well as data that can be recovered in the future to improve programs and make it more efficient to prevent disparities altogether or at least quickly solve them in the future.
Share the success
A very important and final step of this process is documenting the different outcomes that are a part of any policymaking action and keeping track of the implementations of these programs in a quantifiable way. This helps with motivating lawmakers, the public, and others to continue fighting the good fight. Share the success and all the challenges in helping bridge the gaps in health, education, and other socioeconomic requirements, along with lessons learned during the process.
Conclusion
By uniting, partnerships between organizations and the public can provide necessary community-based assistance and other important services to those in need, including children and students with health and other economic problems. Remember, to achieve a healthy community, problems must be addressed at their root and prevented from being repeated. This is just as applicable to health disparities as it is to educational inequalities and other differences among people.
Author’s Bio – Joanne Elliott
Joanne Elliott is a professor of economics and an author. Over her eighteen years of writing for a living, Joanne has created numerous articles documenting health disparity worldwide. With her work, the author and academic hopes to bring this information to light and ensure a minimal repetition of the same in the future.
