Unit 4
Edelman: Ch2
1. Health disparities and health equality
a. Health equity- accomplishment of highest level of health for all people
i. Requires valuing everyone equally with focused and ongoing societal
efforts to deal with preventable inequalities historical and contemporary
injustices, and elimination of health and health care disparities
2. Emerging populations in the US
a. Include ethnic minorities (Asian Americans, Blacks, Hispanics, Native
Americans, and Arab) and persons who are homeless
b. disparities in the health care system may cause increases of social costs
attributable to the lost productivity or use of health care services among the ethnic
minority populations
3. ethnicity, ethnic group, minority group, and race
a. race- dynamic set of historically derived and institutionalized ideas and practices
that: sorts people into ethnic groups according to perceived physical and
behavioral human characteristics; associates differential value, power, and
privilege with these characteristics and establishes a social status ranking among
different groups; and emerges (a) when groups are perceived to pose a threat
(political, economic, or cultural) to each other’s world view or way of life; a/o (b)
to justify denigration and exploitation (past, current, or future) of, and prejudice
toward, other groups
i. associated with power and indexes history or ongoing imposition of one
group’s authority above another
b. ethnicity- dynamic set of historically derived and institutionalized ideas and
practices that allows people to identify or be identified with groupings of people
on basis of presumed (and usually claimed) commonalities including language,
history, nation, or region of origin, customs, ways of being, religion, names,
physical appearance, a/o genealogy or ancestry; can be source of meaning, action,
and identity; and confers a sense of belonging, pride, and motivation
i. focuses on differences in meanings, values, and ways of living (practices)
, ii. evidenced in customs that reflect socialization and cultural patterns of the
group
c. minority group- consists of people who are living within society in which they are
usually disadvantaged in relation to power, control of their own lives, and wealth
4. culture, values, and value orientation
a. culture- refers to integrated patterns of human behavior that include language,
thoughts, communications, actions, customs, beliefs, values, and institutions of
racial, ethnic, religious, or social groups
i. element of ethnicity
ii. shaped by values, beliefs, norms, and practices that are shared by members
of same cultural group
b. values- beliefs about worth of something and serve as standards that influence
behavior and thinking
i. unique, individual expressions of particular culture that have been
accepted as appropriate over time
ii. guide actions and decision-making that facilitate self-worth and self-
esteem
iii. shape human behaviors and determine what individuals will do to
maintain their health status, how they will care for themselves, and others
who become ill, and where and from whom they will seek healthcare
c. value orientations- learned and shared through socialization process, reflect
personality type of particular society
i. shared by majority of group
ii. basic human nature, relationship of human beings to nature, human
beings’ time orientation, valued personality type, and relationships
between human beings
5. cultural competency
a. one of major elements in eliminating health disparities
b. starts with desire to disregard personal biases and treat everyone with respect
c. understanding the cultural underpinning of care is a challenging task because of
the complexity and interaction between the person seeking care and the health
Edelman: Ch2
1. Health disparities and health equality
a. Health equity- accomplishment of highest level of health for all people
i. Requires valuing everyone equally with focused and ongoing societal
efforts to deal with preventable inequalities historical and contemporary
injustices, and elimination of health and health care disparities
2. Emerging populations in the US
a. Include ethnic minorities (Asian Americans, Blacks, Hispanics, Native
Americans, and Arab) and persons who are homeless
b. disparities in the health care system may cause increases of social costs
attributable to the lost productivity or use of health care services among the ethnic
minority populations
3. ethnicity, ethnic group, minority group, and race
a. race- dynamic set of historically derived and institutionalized ideas and practices
that: sorts people into ethnic groups according to perceived physical and
behavioral human characteristics; associates differential value, power, and
privilege with these characteristics and establishes a social status ranking among
different groups; and emerges (a) when groups are perceived to pose a threat
(political, economic, or cultural) to each other’s world view or way of life; a/o (b)
to justify denigration and exploitation (past, current, or future) of, and prejudice
toward, other groups
i. associated with power and indexes history or ongoing imposition of one
group’s authority above another
b. ethnicity- dynamic set of historically derived and institutionalized ideas and
practices that allows people to identify or be identified with groupings of people
on basis of presumed (and usually claimed) commonalities including language,
history, nation, or region of origin, customs, ways of being, religion, names,
physical appearance, a/o genealogy or ancestry; can be source of meaning, action,
and identity; and confers a sense of belonging, pride, and motivation
i. focuses on differences in meanings, values, and ways of living (practices)
, ii. evidenced in customs that reflect socialization and cultural patterns of the
group
c. minority group- consists of people who are living within society in which they are
usually disadvantaged in relation to power, control of their own lives, and wealth
4. culture, values, and value orientation
a. culture- refers to integrated patterns of human behavior that include language,
thoughts, communications, actions, customs, beliefs, values, and institutions of
racial, ethnic, religious, or social groups
i. element of ethnicity
ii. shaped by values, beliefs, norms, and practices that are shared by members
of same cultural group
b. values- beliefs about worth of something and serve as standards that influence
behavior and thinking
i. unique, individual expressions of particular culture that have been
accepted as appropriate over time
ii. guide actions and decision-making that facilitate self-worth and self-
esteem
iii. shape human behaviors and determine what individuals will do to
maintain their health status, how they will care for themselves, and others
who become ill, and where and from whom they will seek healthcare
c. value orientations- learned and shared through socialization process, reflect
personality type of particular society
i. shared by majority of group
ii. basic human nature, relationship of human beings to nature, human
beings’ time orientation, valued personality type, and relationships
between human beings
5. cultural competency
a. one of major elements in eliminating health disparities
b. starts with desire to disregard personal biases and treat everyone with respect
c. understanding the cultural underpinning of care is a challenging task because of
the complexity and interaction between the person seeking care and the health
