Well good evening to my fellow bloggers! Tonight’s topic is about
infant mortality. I will be informing you guys tonight about which ethnicity
group has the highest infant mortality rate, what is the causes, and the
disparities that the ethnic group faces.
According to Office of
Minority Health (OMH), American Indian (AI) and Alaska Natives (AN) have the
highest infant mortality rate by “1.5 times the infant mortality rate as
non-Hispanic white. Also, the AI and AN babies are twice as likely as
non-Hispanic white babies to die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). As
well to have more than 70% of infants to die from accidental deaths before the
age of one year compares to non-Hispanic white infants (CDC, 2015). I found
this rates astonishing and it made me want to do further research on why the
infants deaths are so high. This lead me to find out the leading causes of
death among infants. The top four causes of death consist of
congenital malformations, low birth weight, SIDS, and accidents. The more I
investigate everything became clearer. OMH found out more information
that contributes to the high percentage of infant mortality. During the
first-trimester-only 0.7% of AI and AN receive prenatal care and 15.2 %
smoke during the last three months of their pregnancy (CDC,2015).
Also, the lack of prenatal
care causes the high infant mortality rate and other chronic diseases.
According to OMH “American Indians/Alaska Natives frequently contend with
issues that prevent them from receiving quality medical care. These issues
include cultural barriers, geographic isolation, inadequate sewage disposal,
and low income” (CDC,2015). And learning this information makes me
realize the importance of health literacy and we have to understand that
individuals have different cultural beliefs. As a person that is planning to
obtain a career in health care, we have to be able to find different ways to
bring awareness to different ethnic groups.
Lastly, it brings to the
types of health coverage that they receive. OMH states that 22% of AI and AN
live on reservations or other trust lands. 60% of AI and AN lives in
metropolitan areas” (CDC, 2015). To the 22% of the AI and AN that live in
reservations have less access to hospitals, clinics, and health groups. This
greatly explains why the infant mortality is high since the pregnant women
don’t receive the proper health care for themselves and the baby. Also,
OMH did a research in 2012, “47.5 % of AI and AN had private health insurance
coverage. 38.1 percent of AI/ANs relied on Medicaid coverage, and 22.6 percent
of AI/ANs had no health insurance coverage” (CDC,2015).
In
conclusion, I hope that I am able to shine light on the many disparities nonwhites
ethnic groups face that can cause a drastic impact on the quality of health
care that they will received. And as a society we should try to find ways for
every minority group to have equal health care. Well thanks for reading and
until next time my fellow bloggers.
Reference
DC, C.
(2015, September 04). Office of Minority Health. Retrieved March 02, 2016, from
http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=4
DC, C. (2015, September 04). Office of Minority Health.
Retrieved March 02, 2016, from
http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=3
This post was really interesting because I did not know we measured fatality rates among other minorities. But it does make sense to me now because we are always talking about the amount of access that minorities are given. It is definitely less than others. Your stats were very interesting.
ReplyDeleteThis post was really interesting because I did not know we measured fatality rates among other minorities. But it does make sense to me now because we are always talking about the amount of access that minorities are given. It is definitely less than others. Your stats were very interesting.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the great post! I enjoyed reading about this topic! I had no idea about some of the information you presented. I can't wait to read the posts to come!
ReplyDeleteGood post! I love all the accurate data with the statistics. I also love your intro by giving a good greeting to your readers. Good job!
ReplyDeleteVery detailed with great information. I like how you greeted your readers at the beginning of the blog. It it was very interested to read because I had know idea about those statistics that you gave. Great job I enjoyed reading your blog!
ReplyDeleteAs unfortunate as this topic is, this post is very interesting. It was very interesting to read about and it was all brand new information to me. I did know expect it but once you talked about the research you did, it all made sense. Good for you for going deeper and doing your research. Great work!
ReplyDeleteThis post is sad, but necessary and interesting. Infant mortality rates are much higher than they need to be. I can tell you did some great research in order to find this good information.
ReplyDeleteAs i started to read this i guessed at what group would have the highest and i was half right. It is sad how high these numbers are, but it makes sense according to their culture. Hopefully these numbers decrease in the future.
ReplyDeleteIt is so disheartening to read the statistics you presented. Also, to know that the type of insurance you have can play a role in the quality of care you receive. This blog post really opened my eyes to the struggles. Great job!
ReplyDelete