Recognizing Health Disparities in Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups
By Dr. Archana Dubey, Chief Medical Officer, UnitedHealthcare of California
April is recognized by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as Minority Health Month, an observance that brings awareness to health disparities and encourages action through education, early detection, and disease control. Part of this work includes raising awareness about the disproportionate health outcomes among people who belong to racial or ethnic minority groups.
The conditions in which we are born, live, learn, work, play, and worship and our age – known associal determinants of health (SDOH) – have important impacts on health. Differences in SDOH contribute to the stark and persistent chronic disease disparities in the U.S. among racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups, systematically limiting opportunities for members of some groups to be healthy.
