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African American Health Paper 2

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African American Health Paper 2
Health Promotion Among African Americans
Mollie A Gonio
Grand Canyon University: NRS-429V
Family-Centered Health Promotion
March 13, 2015
Michelle Easton

African American Health Disparities in the United States
On average African Americans are not as healthy as other populations in the United States such as the Caucasian population. There are many health issues associated with African Americans that will be discussed in order to establish what cultural, socioeconomically acknowledged barriers and cultural behaviors are to be addressed. The health status of this minority group will be talked about as well as the comparison to other populations such as Caucasian or White. There are many approaches used to promote health prevention but there is one that is primarily more effective in treating and educating patients on health prevention and promotion.
Current Health Status
The current health status of African Americans has been described as poor according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Center for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2010). In July 2012, 43.1 million people in the United States were Black; alone or in combination described by the Department of Public Health. While many of these people have been diagnosed with cancer, strokes, diabetes, high cholesterol and nephritis there are too many to mention. African Americans are twice as likely to be diagnosed with diabetes as non-Hispanic whites. In addition, they are more likely to suffer complications from diabetes, such as end-stage renal disease and kidney disorders. Although African Americans have the same or lower rate of high cholesterol as their non-Hispanic white counterparts, they are more likely to have high blood pressure. Although African American adults are 40 percent more likely to have high blood pressure, they are half as likely as the non-Hispanic White population to have their blood pressure under control.

In 2010, African Americans were 30 percent more



References: Larson, C., Schlundt, D., Patel, K., Wang, H., Beard, K., & Hargreaves, M. (2010). Trends in smoking among African-Americans: a description of Nashville 's REACH 2010 initiative. Journal Of Community Health, 34(4), 311-320. doi:10.1007/s10900-009-9154-8CDC National Center for Health Statistics - Homepage. /nchs/. November 3, 2011. Source: CDC 2012. Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Adults: 2011. Table 2. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_256.pdf [PDF | 3.12MB] Department of Public Health. (n.d.). Retrieved March 15, 2010, from http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/gov/departments/dph/ Parrill, R., & Kennedy, B. R. (2011). Partnerships for Health in the African American Community: Moving Toward Community-based Participatory Research. Journal Of Cultural Diversity, 18(4), 150-154. African American Health Disparities Compared to Non-Hispanic Whites. (n.d.). Retrieved March 15, 2015, from http://familiesusa.org/product/african-american-health-disparities-compared-to-non-hispanic-whites

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