Eliminating Health Disparities
Overview
Different demographic groups in the United States do not share equal quality of health or equal life-spans. Attempts to remedy these disparities have focused primarily on documenting the problem and seeking changes in medical curricula around "cultural competency" for physicians. While knowing how to relate to patients across religious, racial, and cultural lines is critically important for any physician and is not innate knowledge, the NPA believes that our response to America's health disparity crisis must go farther than cultural competency training. We must understand and address the root causes of Americans' terrible health disparities. To focus on this problem, the NPA will begin by working with leaders of affected groups and communities to develop a comprehensive long-range strategy for building up the health of every American. The solutions will come from the pooling of our wisdom and courage--from the grassroots to the think tanks--and from the trust and synergy that grows with genuine collaboration.
Healthcare Equality Index