A Plausible Definition for Health Disparities
Definitions of the terms thrown around public health professionals are often heard but not understood. Nonetheless, they tend to understand the overall drift of what public health professionals are attempting to convey. Paula Braveman discusses the importance of definitions of these core concepts of public health because of the implications they may have. One may think how extraneous it is to contest a definition of a concept like health disparities; however, the definitions of these concepts not only lead the path for health policy implications but also are essential for measurements to be utilized for monitoring purposes by public health departments. Braveman’s lays out a modern, concrete and …show more content…
This vague definition in a sense could have claimed individuals’ lives; definitions lay the foundation for health policies that could worsen clinical outcomes and increase disparity, if inadequate. She discusses the various methods of measurements used for health inequalities, varying in complexity. For example, when only two groups are being compared, the rate ratio is used to determine a rate of a particular disparity by calculating the ratio of these two groups, such as maternal mortality amongst a certain social or socioeconomic group (Braveman, 2006). Braveman’s definition highlights the “potentially avoidable difference in health (or in health risks that policy can influence) between groups of people who are more and less advantaged socially,” Braveman criticizes practically every definition for their specificity or lack of specificity, and for not including privilege differences. Braveman’s definition has advantages in which it assists in measurement, includes systematic differences and is technical, which does not open it to interpretation. The disadvantage of this definition is that it is too technical and complicated, for the general public, this definition may not be understood as simply as other simpler, ineffective …show more content…
Braveman makes a compelling, convincing and agreeable argument in her paper in which shows why there needs to be a revision in the definition and also included the necessities that were missing from previous definitions. Her persistence in the definitions recognizing the unequal advantages in the comparisons of groups is excellent, since other definitions focus on one or two specific disparities, while her definition is measurable and targets those who have less advantage and those who have more of a social benefit. Her account of the WHO organization setting back many efforts to close disparity gaps in 1999 due to a change in leadership made me realize the importance of conceptualizations in public health (Braveman, 2006). Conceptualizations will determine health policy, affect the measurement of these health inequalities and have the potential to impact individuals lives; these definitions must be up to par and be able to be interpreted in a manner that will allow for proper policy implementation, precise measurement and accurate public health
Definitions of the terms thrown around public health professionals are often heard but not understood. Nonetheless, they tend to understand the overall drift of what public health professionals are attempting to convey. Paula Braveman discusses the importance of definitions of these core concepts of public health because of the implications they may have. One may think how extraneous it is to contest a definition of a concept like health disparities; however, the definitions of these concepts not only lead the path for health policy implications but also are essential for measurements to be utilized for monitoring purposes by public health departments. Braveman’s lays out a modern, concrete and …show more content…
This vague definition in a sense could have claimed individuals’ lives; definitions lay the foundation for health policies that could worsen clinical outcomes and increase disparity, if inadequate. She discusses the various methods of measurements used for health inequalities, varying in complexity. For example, when only two groups are being compared, the rate ratio is used to determine a rate of a particular disparity by calculating the ratio of these two groups, such as maternal mortality amongst a certain social or socioeconomic group (Braveman, 2006). Braveman’s definition highlights the “potentially avoidable difference in health (or in health risks that policy can influence) between groups of people who are more and less advantaged socially,” Braveman criticizes practically every definition for their specificity or lack of specificity, and for not including privilege differences. Braveman’s definition has advantages in which it assists in measurement, includes systematic differences and is technical, which does not open it to interpretation. The disadvantage of this definition is that it is too technical and complicated, for the general public, this definition may not be understood as simply as other simpler, ineffective …show more content…
Braveman makes a compelling, convincing and agreeable argument in her paper in which shows why there needs to be a revision in the definition and also included the necessities that were missing from previous definitions. Her persistence in the definitions recognizing the unequal advantages in the comparisons of groups is excellent, since other definitions focus on one or two specific disparities, while her definition is measurable and targets those who have less advantage and those who have more of a social benefit. Her account of the WHO organization setting back many efforts to close disparity gaps in 1999 due to a change in leadership made me realize the importance of conceptualizations in public health (Braveman, 2006). Conceptualizations will determine health policy, affect the measurement of these health inequalities and have the potential to impact individuals lives; these definitions must be up to par and be able to be interpreted in a manner that will allow for proper policy implementation, precise measurement and accurate public health