Focus Areas
To ignite the Fair Health Movement, HPI helps communities of color identify short- and long-term policy objectives in seven specific areas.
Determinants of Health
Many disorders are caused by multiple determinants of health, only some of which are biomedical. Many of these important determinants—including behavioral, social, environmental, and economic factors—have not been adequately addressed as health issues. Moreover, many of them have an especially significant impact on communities of color.
Prevention & Health Promotion
Health care by itself is not enough to ensure good health. When compared to whites, many minorities are disproportionately affected by multiple risk factors and by preventable and chronic diseases. Examples include diabetes, which has twice the prevalence rate among minority groups; and prostate cancer, which has twice the death rate among black males.
Infant Mortality
Infant mortality rates continue to be an intractable problem for the United States in general, and for minorities in particular. African Americans still have unacceptably high infant mortality rates. As related factors, teen pregnancy and single-parenthood are also elevated for many minority populations.
Supporting Youth
Behavioral choices are linked to as many as 40 percent of the premature deaths in our nation. Rates of obesity, already high for blacks and Hispanics, are increasing more rapidly for these minority groups. Tobacco use and substance abuse among youth are still high, especially among communities of color. In addition, violence, especially in inner city neighborhoods with high rates of poverty, is unacceptably prevalent.
Mental Health
For millions of adults and children facing elevated risk factors, physical illness is common, but many others turn inward (in depression) or lash out (in anger and violence). These emotional and behavioral responses can lead to efforts to self-medicate through food, alcohol, and drugs—leading to problems such as obesity, addiction, depression, anxiety, panic attacks, and physical ailments and diseases.
Healthcare
Despite efforts to stay healthy, most people often do get sick and need health care. Minorities have poorer access to health care services and third-party coverage. Seventy percent of whites have workplace health insurance, yet only 50 percent of blacks and 45 percent of Hispanics have such coverage.
Healthy Aging
Public health policies, programs, and funding have tended to focus mostly on children and the elderly. Focusing more intently on healthy aging in the middle years of life may pave the way for healthier adults and a higher quality of life for the elderly. To create conditions for healthy aging, there is a need to focus especially on such behaviors as smoking, substance abuse, nutrition, physical activity, and regular medical check-ups.
