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Health consequences of African Americans
Health consequences of African Americans
Presently, one out of every three Americans is African American, American Indian, Hispanic, Pacific Islander or Asian American. According to Dunlop et al (2003), there are predictions that by 2050 a large proportion of the American citizen will be made up of minorities. Evidence provided by this population demographic change therefore implies that there are more health consequences in the populace than economic due to citizens’ failure to stamp out longstanding inconsistency in health status and in their access to health care. In the past 50 years, the United States has recorded tremendous developments in an effort to ensure that improved health is available to all citizens of all ethnicities. In comparison to scenes of the early 1960s, the United States has made a lot of advances towards formulating plans to expand the access of healthcare to all citizens. According to Gans (1995), the wide access of health services to the disabled, the poor and the low-income was as a result of establishments made by Medicare, Medicaid, and the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Nonetheless, discrepancies in the healthcare system are still experienced among the different ethnicities in America. America appears to be betraying the very creed foundations that it was established on which is the equality for all its citizens. This founding tenet of fairness, observed that all citizens with the same health care needs are treated in the same way irrespective of their race. Ethnicity and racial discrimination exist along different groups. These prevalent biases are exhibited in health care service provisions. According to various reports from a number of studies by Whittle et al (1997), there are indications that people from minority ethnic groups as compared to their white counterparts endure the brunt disproportionately from high death rates and diseases like cardiovascular disorders, cancer, and HIV/AIDS. Extensively researched information collected from independent studies on health outcomes over the years indicated that African-American as compared to other American ethnic groups. In addition, African-Americans ethnic group has the highest cancer incidences rate while women of African-American ethnicity as compared to white women’s survival rate from breast cancer is half (Whittle et al 1997). Such discrepancies are ignored by the health care system due to health care’s inefficiency in addressing the underlying factors behind discrepancies. This lack of concern to address the discrepancies extends and propagates the widening gap between the major groups and the minority groups.
According to Ayanian et al (1995), in one of the studies, it was established that 16 percent of African-Americans and 17% of the Hispanic ethnicities were noted to exhibit fair or poor health, while only 10 percent of white origin reported the same. Besides, scientists in another study that was examining healthcare among children realized that as compared to white children, African-American children were less likely to access quality health care services (Ayanian et al 1999).
In a comparison that examined Native American infants as compared to white Americans and indigenous Alaskan infants conclusively established that the American children had lower mortality rates than the other two sets of children. Researchers in an evaluation chaired by Amal N. Trivedi, assistant professor at Brown University that was examining health inequalities, summarized that in spite of quality improvements; people of black origin do worse than whites when it came to controlling blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol levels. The research investigated a total number of 430,000 patients from 151 strategically places. According to Maynard et al (1986), the evaluation noted that inequality was exhibited in all types of healthcare providers. In both high and low quality Medicare, this practice undercut the perception that blacks fare worse since they are accorded care from lower quality providers.
There were indications that cancer continues to be one of the most constant diseases among American people. Nonetheless, much has been done to make sure that patients are accorded the best of healthcare accessible.
However, it is overwhelming to note that these efforts have not erased the racial inequalities that are continuing to develop more roots in the American citizens. Garcia (2003) observes that findings made between 1992 and 2002, the U.S. black citizen has continued to get inferior cancer medication if compared to people of white ethnicity under the government insurance policy. Indicators show that these disparities have been committed at the same degree for a number of years is reality that reflects the severe fate that it has taken root in all areas of the medical fraternity. In a revitalizing scheme Aetna has been able to tackle these issues through radicalizing the whole healthcare system so as to modify resolutions that address health inequalities.
Potential factors that can lead to health disparities
Maynard et al (1986), although personal biases and racism have had roles to play, the study found that institutional and societal racism have widely accounted for these differences. People in the health care system who have experienced prejudices from certain races towards them also contribute to some of the racial disparities that happen in the health care system. Nonetheless, government and insurance cause major health inequalities on the level of race and ethnicity despite this institutions being significant in fighting against the disparity vice (Baker et al 1996). For instance, social factors of an individual based on economic status of the person determine the type of healthcare options available for the individual (Bonilla-Silva 1997).
Provider Factors
As Cumming and Lambert (1999) observe, in this evaluation the provider refers to the medical expert and how he offers the medical services to the patient. The medical professional’s sensitivity of racial and ethnic Minorities determines how they medicate their patients. These personnel’s attitude towards the Hispanic black and white American ethnicities establish the kind of healthcare service they will be given (Cummings and Lambert 1999). In a research done by the American cancer association, these providers’ attitude was identified as the leading cause of these inequalities that happened between the White and Black patients (McKinley et al 1997). Another research conducted between 1992 and 2002, the United States black citizen has continued to receive inferior cancer treatment compared to whites under the government insurance policy (Garcia 2003).
There are believes in patients that the healthcare system is highly prejudicial and biased. They believe that this is founded in order to take care of the needs of the majority and not the minority. Due to such belief people of black decent are more likely to avoid and cancel visiting a medical expert than any other race.
System Factors
According to McKinley (1997), treatment that a patient is accorded from the health system is referred to as system factors. This is normally is in reference to the value of healthcare that is provided to the different ethnic or races classes in a similar health system for the identical disease. For instance, in the medication of cancer, the national cancer association realized that although radiotherapy was fundamental in treating cancer, women of the African American ethnicity were less likely to be offered with as compared to their white colleagues. Besides, black Americans were most likely not to be referred to a medical expert for the same disease people of white were being referred for further attention. Such varying levels of attention are practices based on cultural competency within the health system whereby individuals are accorded different treatment on the basis of their race (McKinley 1997). Nonetheless, the health literacy among American citizens varies in different ethnic groups based on the different practices, peer or societal influences and also levels of education (Barzansky and Sylvia 2001). The African American decent has less interest in engaging in exercise activities and other preventive healthcare practices despite them leading in cases of hypertension, obesity as well as heart disease (Lanham 2000).
ROLE OF MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP IN ORGANIZATIONS DURING TIMES OF CRISIS
ROLE OF MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP IN ORGANIZATIONS DURING TIMES OF CRISIS
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As companies worldwide battle to survive under extraordinary conditions, the COVID-19 pandemic has already shown to be a snapshot of leadership. In this disaster, management is dramatic in many ways—that is, it shares dramatic on-screen features. Fox et al. (2020, p. 2213) found that crisis managers must demonstrate and maintain different abilities and attitudes depending on the issue. People frequently expect leaders to act in preset ways, for instance, with chief executives and conservative financial controllers. However, disaster managers need to be flexible enough to give several masks, depending on the circumstances. Times of crisis place extraordinary demands on the leadership of an organization. Because of the nature of crisis as unexpected events and the resultant degrees of uncertainty, the leadership and management of an organization is expected to provide direction for all followers, including recognizing the need for action and retaining positive motivation for action.
The first role of management and leadership in times of major crises is to provide leadership. At the forefront, leader influences and ensure their teams, send out a message of optimism and share their vision (Sidani & Rowe, 2018, p. 632). They are also sympathetic to the public. At the same time, these leaders are gentle and humble, revealing their personality’s caring side. All these traits must be paired with the role behind the scenes in which leaders address the major dangers they face bluntly and realistically (Ribeiro et al., 2020, p.201). Having gathered knowledge and experience behind the scenes, leaders communicate data and dig into procedures – be it financial, technical or human – to adjust and carry through with strategies. Therefore, providing leadership and direction are the most important aspects of crises management in an organization, a role that must be efficiently and effectively executed by leaders and managers.
The second role of an organization’s leadership and management team is to recognize that a firm is confronted with a crisis, establish the issues, and formulate a plan to address it. It is a tough step, especially during the beginning of crises that do not come abruptly but come from known conditions that hide their essence. Fox et al. (2020, p. 2213) argue that the 2002-2003 epidemic of SARS, and now the COVID-19 pandemic, are examples of these catastrophes. In the face of a slow-developing catastrophe, leaders need to overcome a normality bias and might underestimate the potential for a crisis as well as the impact it may have.
Another important role of leaders and managers in times of crisis is establishing the resources and capabilities available to their organization, and then preparing to effectively use these resources to respond appropriately to the crisis. When leaders acknowledge a problem, a chain of responses is likely to follow. However, they are unable to respond as in a regular crisis by implementing procedures prepared in advance. Productive answers are primarily generated throughout a crisis that is governed by inexperience and insecurity (Sidani & Rowe, 2018, p. 624). Therefore, the management and leadership of an organization is required to first weigh its capabilities against the resources available. These exercises allow management and leadership to understand how and when to cover a wide variety of measures: not just temporary movement, for example, the implementation of external parties to help in resolving a crisis. However, modifications to ongoing business practices, such as the use of new instruments for collaborative support, may be of benefit to continue long after the event has passed. Ultimately, identification of resources and capabilities is an important role of leaders and managers in times of major crisis in an organization.
One of the main roles of leaders and managers in times of crisis is ensuring that those under their leadership remain focused and motivated towards resolving the crisis. During a crisis, leaders require not an advanced reaction plan but behaviors and attitudes that prohibit them from overacting and helping them look forward to past events. Throughout a crisis, leaders have to abandon the conviction that the downward reaction creates stability. The average company can use its system and monitoring structure to manage operations efficiently in routine conditions employing a script reaction (Sidani & Rowe, 2018, p.624). However, in uncertain situations, leaders face unknown and poorly understood problems. A few top managements in the organization cannot collect or decide quickly enough to succeed. Therefore, as a part of their role in ensuring that followers remain focused and motivated, leaders and managers are expected to provide a clear definition of expectations and responsibilities and create solutions that support these priorities.
Another major role of leaders and managers is to build a system of teams to facilitate quick issue resolution and implementation under extreme and unexpected situations. Although the team network is a well-known structure, it should be stressed that very few businesses have expertise in its implementation (Sidani & Rowe, 2018, p. 626). A team network comprises a highly flexible group, linked by a shared objective and worked together much as people work together inside a single team (exhibit). Leaders’ crisis messages typically hit the wrong mark. In the early phases of a crisis, leaders are increasingly confident and up-and-coming tones—and stakeholders’ doubts about what leadership knows and how well they handle the crises (Kotterman, 2006, p.14). Therefore, leaders and managers should be in charge of team formulations, especially where teamwork is likely to achieve faster and more efficient results towards resolution of issues and crisis.
The last, and perhaps the most important, role of management and leadership in organizations during times of crisis is to provide communication on the way forward and on matters relating to solution finding. Thoughtful, regular communication demonstrates that leaders follow and modify the situation while learning more. Leaders should pay particular attention to ensuring that every audience’s problem, issues, and interests are addressed (Sidani & Rowe, 2018, p. 630). It can be particularly helpful if the crisis response team members talk directly about what is expected, and communicate a plan to steer off a crisis. Ibeabuchi et al. (2021, p. 15) argue that communications should not cease once the crisis is over. The positive and realistic perspective may have a strong influence on employees and other stakeholders and can encourage them to promote the recovery of the firm. For example, Sidani and Rowe (2018, p. 631) look at how the COVID-19 pandemic has tested organizational leaders from all over the world, particularly highlighting the benefits of a good communication structure. Evidently, only organizations that have an efficient communication plan are able to emerge out of a crisis without major losses.
In conclusion, leadership and management should ensure that crisis management takes center stage through organization, planning, communication, and motivating followers towards finding solutions. Indeed, the discussion finds a need for leadership and management of an organization to provide direction for all followers. One of the essential features of every leader is crisis management. In a business setting, crisis is an impermissible situation that interferes with the organization’s usual operations and which demands a quick response. The discussion establishes that crisis situations cannot be foreseen and regular processes might be disabled beforehand, recommending that efficient crisis management and sound management skills be implemented.
References
Fox C, Davis P & Baucus M 2020, Corporate Social Responsibility During Unprecedented Crises: The Role of Authentic Leadership and Business Model Flexibility, Management Decision, Vol. 58, No. 10, pp.2213-2233.
Ibeawuchi N, Nwagbara, U, Alhassan, Y & Brown, C 2021, Leading Change in Difficult Times: The Role of Effective Leadership in Confronting Educational Challenges of COVID-19 Pandemic, Economic Insights – Trends and Challenges, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 11- 20.
Kotterman J 2006, Leadership Versus Management: What’s the Difference? The Journal for Quality Participation, Vol. 29, No. 2, pp.13-17.
Ribeiro N, Duarte AP, Filipe R & de Oliveira RT 2020, How Authentic Leadership Promotes Individual Creativity: The Mediating Role of Affective Commitment, Journal of Leadership & Organisational Studies, Vol. 27, No. 2, pp.189-202.
Sidani Y & Rowe WG 2018, A Reconceptualization of Authentic Leadership: Leader Legitimation Via Follower-Centered Assessment of the Moral Dimension, The Leadership Quarterly, Vol. 29, pp. 623-636.
Health complications of smoking
Health complications of smoking
Smoking is the process of inhaling smoking burning from cigarettes. Users of cigarettes develop the habit of smoking until they cannot do without it. They end up getting addicted to smoking just like the other drugs. Users of cigarettes dig for stimulatory chemicals. An example of such chemicals is nicotine. It is unfortunate that smokers are not aware or are aware but assume the adverse effects of the activity. The activity result to complications in the human body. One example of these complications affects the heart system.
Let us illustrate how one of the health complications caused by smoking affects the body. Smoking involves to burning of carbon substances in the presence of air. The substances contain carbon compounds. Oxygen is used to burn the compounds to release carbon dioxide. The gas is injected into the blood system. When there is incomplete burning due to insufficient oxygen, a different gas is produced. Incomplete burning of carbon compounds result in production of carbon monoxide. Similarly, the gas is injected into the blood stream. In blood system, oxygen is transported by a protein substance called hemoglobin. Hemoglobin has affinity for oxygen in the blood stream and engulfs it to form another oxyhemoglobin. The problem comes when it comes to competition for hemoglobin. Carbon monoxide has 80 times more affinity to hemoglobin than oxygen. As a result hemoglobin binds carbon monoxide to form carboxyhemoglobin. The existence of carboxyhemoglobin in the blood system causes clotting of blood as well as high blood pressure and coronary artery diseases. This denies the body of accessibility to oxygen hence causes health complications. Some of the organs affected by smoking are lungs, cervix, kidney, and pancreas among others. These are just a few examples of the effects of smoking.
CDC statistics reveal that, in United States of America, approximately 42.1 million people smoke. This represents about 18.1% of people above 18 years old. In addition, about 16 million people are affected by smoking either directly or indirectly. It is sad that the U.S looses 480,000 people succumbing to effects of smoking every year. The leading age bracket that smoke is people falling between the ages 25 and 44 years. This makes up 21.8% of the total smoking population. The leading smoking race is American Indians/Alaska natives where by 21.8% of them smoke. In terms of education levels, those who hold GDE diploma constitute the highest proportion of smokers at 41.9% followed by adults with no diploma at 24.7%. It was also found that 27.9% of people living below the poverty level smoke in comparison to 17% of those living above the poverty level. The victims of the activity are aware of the problems caused by smoking. It is upon them to make a critical decision for the interest of their health. However, ignorance has made them not agree that the behavior is unhealthy and it is high time they dropped it. According to me, proper sensitization has not been done to inform the society on the need stop smoking.
As I had mentioned earlier, the country loses about 480000 individuals to effects of smoking of tobacco every year. The victims of the activity also cost the country a lot of money. Every year, the United States uses $96 billion on medical cost of smoking related illness. This money could be diverted to development expenditures rather than being used in preventable recurrent expenditure. There are also losses incurred that are attributed to cigarette smoking. The amount lost in productivity every year amount to $97 billion. The effects even extend to non users. Out of the deaths occurring every year due to smoking, 49000 of them are from exposure to second hand smoke. This means that smoking is an environmental hazard that is also contributing to depletion of the ozone layer.
As I had mentioned earlier, smoking causes a lot of smoking is harmful to human health. It causes cancer of many organs. It has been studied that there is a relationship between smoking and decreased bone density. In the study, it was established that smoking causes osteoporosis. This is a state where bones become weak and susceptible to fracture. Women are more problem to this condition than men. When women smoke at an early age, the level of the hormone estrogen gets lowered. As a result, they go through their menopause earlier hence increasing the risk getting osteoporosis. There are over 4800 chemicals that result from smoking. The chemicals are very harmful to the blood cells of human beings and leads damaging of the function of the heart. Smoking causes building up of waxy substances in the arteries. This is a disease called atherosclerosis. It leads to the expansion and bulging out of blood vessels which can cause death. This condition is called aneurysms. When wax build up in the arteries, coronary heart disease is developed. Smoking can also result to stroke which is a sudden death of brain cells that arise from bleeding or clotting of blood due to accumulation of carbon monoxide in the blood stream. Injecting nicotine into the blood stream can change the chemistry of the blood. This may damage blood vessels because the vessels react with chemicals from the smoke to change their chemical structures. The blood vessels get thick. The thick cross-sectional area causes the heart system to increase pressure in order to meet the demand for body requirements. The high pressure of pumping is the cause of high blood pressure which can lead to death.
Smoking is harmful to the respiratory system. Though the effects do not come immediately, they are progressive, slow but deadly. The body has a respiratory maintenance system. The respiratory organs are continuously cleansed using the mucus produced from respiratory tubules. The mucus and traps dirt and any disease causing microorganisms. Cilia then sweep away the mucus. However, this cleaning process is impaired by smoking. Smoking slows down the beating of the cilia. After sometimes, the cilia get paralyzed not able to perform the function. It then disappears. The user then starts coughing when cilia have been lost. The coughing comes in to perform the function of cilia. The victim coughs the mucus out due to the absence of the cilia. Consequently, excess mucus is produced by the body. Production of excess mucus has the effect of clogging the air passageway. The situation eases the effort by pathogenic microorganisms to access respiratory surface. The congestion of the respiratory tract favors the growth of harmful microorganisms. The environment also favors lethal reactions within the respiratory system which worsens the situation. The destruction of respiratory cilia leads to development of chronic bronchitis. Excessive production of mucus leads to its accumulation in the tract which makes the linings of bronchioles thicken. As a result, breathing becomes difficult. What follows is a condition called emphysema. This is a situation where the bronchioles lose elasticity making it difficult sustain pressure from the alveoli. It leads to the rupture of alveoli walls. The bursting of the alveoli comes along with such complications as wheezing, fatigue, impaired breathing, and cough. The changes in the structure of the respiratory organs farther results to cancer. This happens when rapid multiplication of the cells of the bronchial lining to take the place of ciliated cells. At this point, they adopt nuclei that look like those of cancerous cells. The situation can be dealt with if treatment is administered on time. Otherwise, the cells can penetrate the base membrane and start multiplying in the lung tissue leading to the formation of a tumor. It is said that 80% of lung cancer cases are as a result of smoking.
Some of the cases involving low weight babies have been attributed to smoking. Some women smoke even when they are pregnant. About 25% of low-birth weight babies are as a result of smoking in women. Smoking has resulted to babies being born before the maturity period of pregnancy. This has accounted for about 14% of preterm births. In addition, 10% of infant death is due to smoking. This occurs when expectant mothers smoke while they are pregnant. Consequently, the baby acquires health complications from the mother. More men smoke than women, but the number of women who smoke is alarming. This is especially awkward when they do it while they are expectant. A survey conducted in 2005 showed that 10.7% of pregnant women smoke. This is though a fall in the percentage from 45% in 1990. In U.S, it is approximated that $366 million is attributed to neonatal health-care every year as a result of smoking.
Smoking of cigarette does not stand on its own; it is promoted by other factors. Smoking is passed on from one generation to the other. Some individuals get induced to smoke cigarette because they see others doing so. This can be explained by behavioral theories that associate environment with ones behavior. Secondly, peer pressures among the youth promote cigarette smoking. The youth collectively indulge in drug abuse thereby getting addicted to the drugs. This especially happens among students when they are way from parental control. Next, ignorance about the effects of cigarette smoking also promotes it. People are not informed about how dangerous smoking is to their lives. Those who get informed ignore the information because they do not understand the need for health education. The government does not take proper actions to mitigate the activity. The regulations on smoking are not very strict and still permit cigarette smoking though not in public. Specific places have been set aside for smoking not knowing that this does very little to control the situation. Users still continue smoking though in the specific places. I think this does not solve the problem. The users are still exposed to the effects and the smoke also diffuse to other places.
It is important to note that smoke does not only come from actual smoking of cigarette. It can come from the environment where one is. The characteristics of smoke that makes it able to diffuse from one place to another makes it possible to include a lot of substances in the smoke group. Some of these substances affect the body in the similar way that tobacco does. In addition, the effects of smoke from a tobacco used by one person can affect the next person. This explains why smoking in public has been banned. The passive inhalation of smoke is called secondhand smoking. In the U.S, about 3000 lung cancer deaths every year are due to exposure to secondhand smoke.
Some cigarettes are called light cigarettes, with the deception that they do not have health implications. There is no safe cigarette. Some also think that menthol cigarettes are the safest which is not true so long as it produces smoke. The government appreciates the users of tobacco and does not set strict regulations on them. One of the regulations on smoking is that one can smoke so long as he or she is 18 years and over. The manufacturers are obliged to include it on the drugs. The government makes an attempt of discouraging consumption of the drug by imposing heavy taxation on the product. Regulation promoting consumption of the product is that which sets aside specific places for smoking.
Though production of the product benefits the related stakeholders such as farmers, manufacturers, and sellers, the government should totally discourage its consumption. The punishment on crimes associated with smoking should be encouraged. The government has the responsibility of taking care of every citizen. Therefore, it should not hesitate in enacting laws that illegalize consumption of tobacco. The users are stubborn despite the health education that they are given to discourage them from smoking. The stakeholders who economically benefit from the product can divert to other sources of income.