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Disparities in Health Among Racial and Ethnic Groups 37

reported they had received poor quality care because of their race or ethnicity, as com-
pared to only 1 percent of whites. Twenty - one percent of Hispanics also reported that
they received poor quality medical treatment that was due to their having an accent
and to their lack of ability with English.

CONCLUSION

It is obvious from this brief review of the statistics on health disparities that although
some disparities are diminishing, the overall picture is mixed. For every minority
group, measures can be identified on which that group received worse care than the ref-

erence group (non - Hispanic whites) did and on which the difference was getting worse
rather than better. For the racial and ethnic minority groups reported on in AHRQ ’ s
2006 National Healthcare Disparities Report, the disparities found for blacks, Asians,
and Hispanics crossed all the domains of quality that could be tracked and included
preventive services, treatment of acute illness, management of chronic disease and dis-
ability, timeliness, and patient centeredness. For the American Indian and Alaska Native
populations, the disparities reported were concentrated in the treatment of chronic ill-
ness and also in the management of chronic disease and disability. The other alarming

findings presented in this report were the measures of disparities in access to care for
Hispanics and the poor. For Hispanics, both not having health insurance and lacking a
usual source of care (a medical home) were getting worse, whereas for the poor, not
having a usual source of care and experiencing delays in getting care were getting
worse. The National Healthcare Disparities Report is the biggest annual examination
of disparities in health care access in the United States, and AHRQ has now added new
information sources to track the nation ’ s progress toward the elimination of disparities.
AHRQ has also developed partnerships with health plans, states, coalitions of business
leaders, and community partners to address these persistent disparities.
This pervasive disconnect between the facts on health care disparities and popular
beliefs suggests yet another critical role for health care professionals, especially those
involved in health education and promotion. They have a critical role to play in cham-
pioning and advocating a partnership between health care professionals and the federal
government to address these troubling disparities. The poll discussed earlier suggests
overwhelming public support for the medical profession (66 percent of the total
respondents) and for the federal government (65 percent) to do more to ensure racial
and ethnic equality in health care (Harvard School of Public Health, Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation, & ICR, 2005).
The Partnership for Prevention has concluded that an additional 100,000 lives
could be saved annually just by increasing the currently low utilization rates of fi ve
cost - effective prevention services. It is racial and ethnic minorities who are getting
even less preventive care than the U.S. population in general (Partnership for Preven-
tion, 2007, p. 3). Health educators have to take a leadership role to transform the U.S.
health care system from one that focuses on providing acute care to the few to one that
emphasizes preventive care for all Americans.

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