Health Disparities, Diversity, and Cultural Competence Assignment

Health Disparities, Diversity, and Cultural Competence - Assignment Example Various hospitals have been built to provide healthcare to people of different classes in the society. According to Shavers (2007), the socioeconomic status is the relative position of a person or community based on their access to wealth and prestige. The socioeconomic status influences health via its association with environmental exposure, lifestyle, and health behavior. The current income and occupation can enable a person to access a particular standard of healthcare. Another socioeconomic factor that impacts on health is education. Education has been evidenced to have a direct effect on a person’s professional development and career opportunities. As noted by Hillemeier et al. (2003), higher education levels are often predictive of better jobs, working conditions, neighborhoods, as well as medical care. On the contrary, low education is a projector of low living standards, volatile income, and poor health care access. Galama and Van Kippersluis (2010) add that this forms the low-income and high-income quartiles. In this regard, socioeconomic model of health disparities posits that the socio-economic status predicts the health status of a person. As a consequence, the health interventions are being developed to ensure equality in order to mitigate this disparity. Another effect is that some health interventions are tailored to cater for the high-end patients while certain programs are aimed at people of low income status in the society, bu t are of similar quality. Most states are providing coverage for children from low income families under Medicaid along with the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. Galama, T., & Van-Kippersluis, H. (2010). A theory of socioeconomic disparities in health over life cycle. Retrieved March 17, 2015, from