Health Disparities
Martha is experiencing health disparities, which is defined as the differences, inequalities or burden due to mortality, injury, or illness suffered by one group. She is African American, and in most cases, they are known faces discrimination in terms of their income and lack of access to healthcare. The lifestyle that Martha is living in is one of the leading causes of health disparities. Her condition of having mild hypertension, being overweight and second A1c level are risk mostly to the unborn child (Betancourt, et.al, 2016). As a pregnant woman, she needs to have less stress and also avoid overworking; however, in Martha’s case, it is different because she is that provider to both her unemployed husband and children thus working non-stop.
As a result of having health disparities, she is most likely to experience preterm labor, which mostly happens during the 20th week of pregnancy, and one can give birth to a premature baby. As a result, the baby might experience health risks. Additionally, preterm labor happen mostly to people who are overweight, have health care condition, and also lack of prenatal care which is the same condition with, Martha. Additionally, she might also experience infant mortality, which is the death of children who are under one year. As an Africa America woman, there is a high chance that she is receiving a low income, thus being forced by circumstances to work in two places (Chen et.al2016). Furthermore, with low wages, she is also unable to visit her doctor due to lack of time and money, which is putting her at risk and her condition getting even worse. Besides, due to her overweight, she was required to set time every week and exercise so that her health can be better; however, her stressful schedule denied her the change, and as a result, her health condition might become worse.
Reference
Betancourt, J. R., Green, A. R., Carrillo, J. E., & Owusu Ananeh-Firempong, I. I. (2016). Defining cultural competence: a practical framework for addressing racial/ethnic disparities in health and health care. Public health reports.
Chen, J., Vargas-Bustamante, A., Mortensen, K., & Ortega, A. N. (2016). Racial and ethnic disparities in health care access and utilization under the Affordable Care Act. Medical care, 54(2), 140.