Barriers to Health Equity

Instructions: 

Healthy People 2030 goals include reducing sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and their complications and improving access to quality STD care. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (n.d.) estimates that there are more than 20 million new cases of STDs in the U.S. each year. STD rates are disproportionately higher among racial/ethnic minorities, youth, and LGBTQ+ populations, which cannot be fully explained by differences in individual risk behavior. Other factors, including discrimination, environmental injustice, wealth inequality, and healthcare access barriers may contribute to these disproportionate rates.

View STD data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC,2021) by following these steps.

Access the CDC Atlas Plus site.

Select STD from the STEP 1 prompt: What data do you want to see?

Select Charts from the STEP 2 prompt: How do you want to see them?

Access STD charts.

Navigate to the left-hand search box titled Select Data

Select STD from the indicator category.

Select the state in which you will practice from the geography category.

Include the following sections: 

Application of Course Knowledge: Answer all questions/criteria with explanations and detail. Examine the CDC Atlas Plus website data presented in the charts and address the following: 

Explain what the data indicates about infections rates based on age, race, and gender.  

Identify evidence of disparities. Explain your rationale. 

Discuss biases or barriers that may contribute to disparities in STD rates in your state. 

Return to the left side of the screen and change the geography indicator category to the United States. Discuss how rates in your state compare to those of the U.S. as a nation. 

Describe two person-centered actions the nurse practitioner can use to promote STD self-care management for marginalized clients. 

Discuss opportunities for interprofessional collaboration to address disparities in STD rates.  

Peer Response: Respond to at least one peer on a topic other than the initially assigned topic.  

Sarah Crumb

1. Explain what the data indicates about infection rates based on age, race, and gender.

According to the CDC AtlasPlus charts (n.d.), in Florida there has been a steady incline of primary and secondary syphilis since about the year 2000, with the greatest increase 2017-2021 in all races. The age group with the largest infection rate is 25-34 and then infection trends down until it spikes again in the age group 24-54 (AtlasPlus – Charts. n.d.). African American people make up the largest percent of people that have syphilis, followed by Caucasian and lastly Native Americans (AtlasPlus – Charts. n.d.). Men are shown to make up the majority of infected people (AtlasPlus – Charts. n.d.).

1. Identify evidence of disparities. Explain your rationale.

The evidence that is noted proves the fact that disparities are in all categories of STD diagnosis and minorities rank number one for all of them (AtlasPlus – Charts. n.d.). The graphs show that there are a disproportionate amount of minorities that have tested positive for STDs over their Caucasian counterparts (AtlasPlus – Charts. n.d.).

1. Discuss biases or barriers that may contribute to disparities in STD rates in your state.

A barrier that many face in this situation deals with lack of adequate care in means of STD testing, family planning and even as much as entire STI clinics closing for lack of funds (Lieberman et.al., 2021). The evidence shows the people that are at higher risk for contracting STDs have less than adequate health care coverage and this, in addition to lack of available STD clinics creates a perfect storm of spreading this disease (Lieberman et.al., 2021).

1. Return to the left side of the screen and change the geography indicator category to the United States. Discuss how rates in your state compare to those of the U.S. as a nation.

Florida’s rates of sharply increasing syphilis and the age ranges that test positive for STDs are quite similar (AtlasPlus – Charts, n.d.). An interesting difference is that Caucasians take the lead for the most diagnosed race in the U.S., meanwhile African Americans have the highest incident in Florida (AtlasPlus – Charts, n.d.).

1. Describe two person-centered actions the nurse practitioner can use to promote STD self-care management for marginalized clients.

With the decline of specialized STD clinics, primary care clinics have become the source of care for these patients (Barrow et.al., 2020). PCPs are at the forefront of STD education, prophylaxis and treatment. Patient-centered actions that a NP can use for marginalized clients would be multilanguage informational packets that can be given to all patients that are seen. Patient confidentiality, keeping a nonjudgmental environment and maintaining a easy referral process for the patients provides two person-centered care (Barrow et.al., 2020).

1. Discuss opportunities for interprofessional collaboration to address disparities in STD rates.

Interprofessional collaboration can be evident in the participation of medical directors that create STD policies by using evidence-based guidelines and community organizations to keep up to date about STD services (Barrow et.al., 2020).