Chronic Diseases and Communities of Color

The US spends more money per capita on healthcare than any other country, but it struggles with health equity issues. At Social Health Research (SHR), our mission is to engage and connect underserved communities with health-focused companies to improve access, delivery, and treatment outcomes.

One of the best ways to close health disparity gaps is to prevent people from getting sick. To do this, SHR stresses chronic disease education, prevention, and management for all Americans. We use more personalized messaging and work with stakeholders to increase prevention efforts in low-income, underserved communities of color. We do this because racial and ethnic minorities in the US experience higher rates of a range of chronic conditions, including; heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, cancer, asthma, obesity, and preterm birth.

Since February is American Heart Month, let's look at just one of these conditions, heart disease. Heart disease has long been the leading cause of death for all US men and women. But certain minority groups face a higher risk than others. For African Americans, heart disease tends to develop earlier and hit harder. While 36% of white adults are diagnosed with cardiovascular disease, 47% of African American adults are diagnosed and their treatment outcomes tend to be poorer.

Heart disease rates differ depending on the diagnosis and other factors like age, diet, and exercise. Still, according to the Cleveland Clinic, Black men have a 70% and Black women have a 50% higher risk of heart failure than their white counterparts. Black adults are also more than twice as likely to end up in the hospital with heart failure and require longer stays. Mexican American, American Indian, Native Hawaiian, and some Asian American populations also have higher rates of heart disease. Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say one reason racial and ethnic minorities are hit harder is that they have higher rates of other chronic conditions. Comorbidities, like high blood pressure, high cholesterol,  diabetes, and obesity, increase the risk of heart disease. 

Many social, economic, and environmental factors, or social determinants of health (SDOH), also contribute to higher heart disease rates and deaths among people of color. For example, in 2021, a Kaiser Family Foundation study found that nonelderly American Indians and Alaskan Natives (AIAN) had the highest uninsured rates at 21.2%, followed by Hispanics at 17.7%. Not having insurance, or not having enough insurance, limits access to preventive screening tests, treatment, and management. The Kaiser study found that people of color are also more likely to work jobs where employers don't offer insurance and have difficulty affording private coverage on their own. Living with a chronic condition can worsen financial woes. One study found that people with chronic health conditions earn nearly 20 percent less than healthier Americans.

So, one of the best ways to improve health equity in the US is by helping people prevent themselves from getting sick and helping them access treatment and follow-up care when needed. Prevention, treatment, chronic disease management, and public and healthcare provider education and awareness are some of our top priorities at SHR.