IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v13y2015i1p44-d61070.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Local Health Departments’ Activities to Address Health Disparities and Inequities: Are We Moving in the Right Direction?

Author

Listed:
  • Gulzar H. Shah

    (Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA 30460, USA)

  • John P. Sheahan

    (Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA 30460, USA)

Abstract

Context : Health disparities are among the critical public health challenges. Objectives : To analyze the extent to which local health departments (LHDs) perform activities for addressing health disparities, changes in proportion of LHDs’ performing those activities since 2005, and factors associated with variation in such engagement. Methods : We used the 2013 National Profile of LHDs Survey to perform Logistic Regression of activities LHDs performed to address health disparities. Results : About 20 percent of LHDs did not perform any activity to address health disparities. Significant decreases occurred since 2005 in the proportion of LHDs that performed health disparity reduction/elimination activities for four activities. LHD characteristics significantly associated ( p ≤0.05) with the increased likelihood of performing activities to address health disparities were: recent completion of community health assessment, community health improvement plan and agency wide strategic plan. Other significant positive impacts on such activities included per capita expenditures, local governance, having one or more local boards of health, larger population size and metropolitan status of the LHD jurisdiction. Conclusions : Reduced infrastructural capacity of LHDs has resulted in fewer LHDs addressing health disparities in their jurisdictions. LHD characteristics associated with higher performance of activities for health disparity reduction identified by this research have important policy implications.

Suggested Citation

  • Gulzar H. Shah & John P. Sheahan, 2015. "Local Health Departments’ Activities to Address Health Disparities and Inequities: Are We Moving in the Right Direction?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:13:y:2015:i:1:p:44-:d:61070
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/13/1/44/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/13/1/44/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Persson, Tonje J. & Pfaus, James G. & Ryder, Andrew G., 2015. "Explaining mental health disparities for non-monosexual women: Abuse history and risky sex, or the burdens of non-disclosure?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 366-373.
    2. Islam, N.S. & Kwon, S.C. & Wyatt, L.C. & Ruddock, C. & Horowitz, C.R. & Devia, C. & Trinh-Shevrin, C., 2015. "Disparities in diabetes management in Asian Americans in New York City compared with other racial/ethnic minority groups," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 105, pages 443-446.
    3. McCarthy, A.M. & Yang, J. & Armstrong, K., 2015. "Increasing disparities in breast cancer mortality from 1979 to 2010 for US black women aged 20 to 49 years," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 105, pages 446-448.
    4. Bharel, M. & Santiago, E.R. & Forgione, S.N. & León, C.K. & Weinreb, L., 2015. "Eliminating health disparities: Innovative methods to improve cervical cancer screening in a medically underserved population," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 105, pages 438-442.
    5. Jeremy Pais, 2014. "Cumulative Structural Disadvantage and Racial Health Disparities: The Pathways of Childhood Socioeconomic Influence," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(5), pages 1729-1753, October.
    6. Chen, J. & Bustamante, A.V. & Tom, S.E., 2015. "Health care spending and utilization by race/ethnicity under the affordable care act's dependent coverage expansion," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 105, pages 499-507.
    7. Hamman, M.K. & Kapinos, K.A., 2015. "Mandated coverage of preventive care and reduction in disparities: Evidence from colorectal cancer screening," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 105, pages 508-516.
    8. Srinivasan, S. & Moser, R.P. & Willis, G. & Riley, W. & Alexander, M. & Berrigan, D. & Kobrin, S., 2015. "Small is essential: Importance of subpopulation research in cancer control," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 105, pages 371-373.
    9. Northridge, M.E. & Yu, C. & Chakraborty, B. & Greenblatt, A.P. & Mark, J. & Golembeski, C. & Cheng, B. & Kunzel, C. & Metcalf, S.S. & Marshall, S.E. & Lamster, I.B., 2015. "A community-based oral public health approach to promote health equity," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 105, pages 459-465.
    10. Roberts, M.C. & Wheeler, S.B. & Reeder-Hayes, K., 2015. "Racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in endocrine therapy adherence in breast cancer: A systematic review," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 105, pages 4-15.
    11. Young, J.L. & Pollack, K. & Rutkow, L., 2015. "Review of state legislative approaches to eliminating racial and ethnic health disparities, 2002-2011," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 105, pages 388-394.
    12. Dankwa-Mullan, I. & Maddox, Y.T., 2015. "Embarking on a science vision for health disparities research," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 105, pages 369-371.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Suranjan Majumder & Subham Roy & Arghadeep Bose & Indrajit Roy Chowdhury, 2023. "Understanding regional disparities in healthcare quality and accessibility in West Bengal, India: A multivariate analysis," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(5), pages 1086-1113, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chiara Acquati & Tzuan A. Chen & Isabel Martinez Leal & Shahnjayla K. Connors & Arooba A. Haq & Anastasia Rogova & Stephanie Ramirez & Lorraine R. Reitzel & Lorna H. McNeill, 2021. "The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Cancer Care and Health-Related Quality of Life of Non-Hispanic Black/African American, Hispanic/Latina and Non-Hispanic White Women Diagnosed with Breast Cancer ," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-16, December.
    2. Katarína Vilinová, 2020. "Spatial Autocorrelation of Breast and Prostate Cancer in Slovakia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-20, June.
    3. Arthur Sakamoto & Christopher R. Tamborini & ChangHwan Kim, 2018. "Long-Term Earnings Differentials Between African American and White Men by Educational Level," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 37(1), pages 91-116, February.
    4. Jacqueline Chattopadhyay, 2017. "Is the ACA's Dependent Coverage Provision Generating Positive Feedback Effects Among Young Adults?," Poverty & Public Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 9(1), pages 42-70, March.
    5. Kelly Horn & James A. Swartz, 2019. "A Comparative Analysis of Lifetime Medical Conditions and Infectious Diseases by Sexual Identity, Attraction, and Concordance among Women: Results from a National U.S. Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-14, April.
    6. Thompson, Tess & Pérez, Maria & Yan, Yan & Kreuter, Matthew W. & Margenthaler, Julie A. & Colditz, Graham A. & Jeffe, Donna B., 2021. "Randomized controlled trial of a breast cancer Survivor Stories intervention for African American women," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 270(C).
    7. Siyu Ma & Donald S Shepard & Grant A Ritter & Robert E Martell & Cindy Parks Thomas, 2021. "Cost sharing for breast cancer hormone therapy: How do dual eligible patients’ copayment impact adherence," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(5), pages 1-15, May.
    8. Mandy Henningham, 2021. "Blak, Bi+ and Borderlands: An Autoethnography on Multiplicities of Indigenous Queer Identities Using Borderland Theory," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(2), pages 7-17.
    9. Alyson Ma & Alison Sanchez & Mindy Ma, 2022. "Racial disparities in health care utilization, the affordable care act and racial concordance preference," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 91-110, March.
    10. Lee, Eun Kyung & Donley, Gwendolyn & Ciesielski, Timothy H. & Freedman, Darcy A. & Cole, Megan B., 2023. "Spatial availability of federally qualified health centers and disparities in health services utilization in medically underserved areas," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 328(C).
    11. Serakos Maria & Wolfe Barbara, 2016. "The ACA: Impacts on Health, Access, and Employment," Forum for Health Economics & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 19(2), pages 201-259, December.
    12. Katherine Baird, 2016. "The Financial Burden of Out-of-Pocket Expenses in the US and Canada: How Different is the US?," LIS Working papers 671, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    13. Fone, Zachary S. & Friedson, Andrew I. & Lipton, Brandy & Sabia, Joseph J., 2020. "The Dependent Coverage Mandate Took a Bite Out of Crime," IZA Discussion Papers 12968, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Cagdas Agirdas & Jordan G. Holding, 2018. "Effects of the ACA on Preventive Care Disparities," Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, Springer, vol. 16(6), pages 859-869, December.
    15. Lee, Eun Kyung & Donley, Gwendolyn & Ciesielski, Timothy H. & Gill, India & Yamoah, Owusua & Roche, Abigail & Martinez, Roberto & Freedman, Darcy A., 2022. "Health outcomes in redlined versus non-redlined neighborhoods: A systematic review and meta-analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 294(C).
    16. Brady, David & Finnigan, Ryan & Kohler, Ulrich & Legewie, Joscha, 2020. "The Inheritance of Race Revisited: Childhood Wealth and Income and Black–White Disadvantages in Adult Life Chances," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 7, pages 599-627.
    17. Joanna N. Lahey & Douglas R. Oxley, 2021. "Discrimination at the Intersection of Age, Race, and Gender: Evidence from an Eye‐Tracking Experiment," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(4), pages 1083-1119, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:13:y:2015:i:1:p:44-:d:61070. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.