Health issues concerning lifestyle behaviours have increased in the United States in recent years. Hypertension can be regarded as a deadly health concern in the world. The management of hypertension is so sensitive that if a patient fails to receive medication, it may lead to mortality.
Following a recent study, African Americans are the most vulnerable group, with a record of one adult in every three living with the disease. Also, the research has managed to establish another kind of hypertension, referred to as pre-hypertension. Therefore, this results in the recording of high blood pressure since the prevailing medical conditions do not qualify as hypertension. All in all, the medical conditions leading to hypertension and pre-hypertension are common among the black community who experience high blood pressure in comparison to their White counterparts. Notably, the study purposed to focus on the prevalence of hypertension among the black population but not by gender. Therefore, there is much emphasis on black women.
The authors of the study applied qualitative research methodology and focused on building a correlation between the consequences of hypertension and the influence of the neighbourhoods. However, it fails to appreciate the causative factors and everyday challenges that are often faced by minority populations with the inclusion of black women. Drawing inferences from the black women participants, the qualitative interviews led to the establishment that black women are financially constrained due to the low income they earn in the neighbourhood. The study objective was to determine the impact of perceptions in a community. Additionally, the focus is also shifted to establish how individual opinions are influential.
The authors in this study have referred to past reports on hypertension in a bid to explain the prevalence of the disease in many households. In this discussion, high prevalence notes have been compared to get a clear picture of the matters of low-income families in the black community. There are also essential notes in regard to ethnicity and gender. Upon attack by the disease, the inability to finance hypertension management is disadvantageous. As such, this is because of reduced income and, eventually, are faced with high blood pressure due to unhealthy and weak body organs unable to function correctly.
Discussion
In 2015, semi-structured interviews were conducted. This interview was based on black females. Seventeen black women participants who were drawn from the New York neighbourhood and communities were interviewed. Data collected was analyzed using transcribing software to help determine the outcome. A check on the results is the availability of food as a factor, stress factors, and social connectedness. The prevalence of stress among the black community members was attributed to increased unemployment, family issues, and utterly living in an unhygienic environment.
Throughout the study, the authors aim to establish the nature of the existing social disparities and their contribution to increasing hypertension disease prevalence. However, the objective is to check the level of awareness of the grave situation in the health sector. In the American health sector, health management is often met with social disparities, rendering the minority groups disadvantaged regarding hypertension awareness, treatment and management, and the development of initiatives to control its spread in the neighbourhood. The Whites, on the other hand, have transparent access to healthcare resources, which is the reason for poor hypertension management among black women. The research findings clearly emphasize social structures and the provision of quality healthcare services to help manage hypertension.
As a way of lowering the rate of hypertension attacks among black women, there is a need for the government to realize that health ought to be a priority. A well-integrated health program in the low-urban community, especially in African American neighbourhoods, will help alleviate the situation.
Social Connectedness
Resources for supporting healthcare delivery are highly critical to providing the best for a community. Obesity is predominant in America. The disease is attributed to an unchecked lifestyle. Healthcare institutions have been set up to help the victims of the disease to prevent its prevalence. The facilities include a centre committed to creating a resource handbook to pinpoint physical activity venues. To cater to low-income families suffering from hypertension, the healthcare community providers need to initiate programs to care for the patients in helping hypertension management. The research has led to a community assessment that has identified a massive gap in the lack of research and medical advancement in the state, causing a lag in the provision of healthcare. Health resources are vital in this respect. Massive investment has been allocated to bring in medical and technological infrastructure for the advancement of care delivery through clinical research and education and to formulate the leading and comprehensive health policy.
Stress Factors
The study develops a quite revealing correlation between hypertension and stress. It is a significant factor in causing the elevation of blood pressure through stimulation of the nervous system. Factors that cause an elevation of blood pressure include job strain, low-income family relationships, race, social environment, and emotional distress. However, extensive studies fail to create a direct relation to hypertension development as a result of stress.
The state can find itself in a stalemate if no consideration is made to ensure no violation of culture and beliefs while providing health care to the different races and cultural and religious indifference. It is the responsibility of the managers to ensure all patients are fully satisfied. In this case, there will be development in the sector, which will provide an excellent platform to ensure a better transition in the health sector. Since patients’ ages and cultural and religious preferences are not going away, there is a need for healthcare managers at the community level to assess the customers’ needs and serve them better without violating peoples’ cultures or beliefs. The diversification of religions must be integrated into creating a healthy community that provides healthcare equity and quality healthcare close to the locals.
Food Factors
According to the study, the food factor is a significant contributor to the prevalence of hypertension and more especially in the black community. The authors did the unthinkable by drawing a link to cigarettes, the last thing executives wished. To support the claim, the author quoted the words of a professor who shared the same sentiment concerning food companies and their being responsible for obesity: “As a culture, we’ve become distraught by the tobacco firms advertising to children, but we sit idly by while the food industries do the very same thing. Then we could make a claim that the toll taken on the public health by deprived diet opponents that took by tobacco.” To make his input rather than just concentrating on a blame game, he presented a revised plan, with the help of other colleagues, to address the menace of obesity in society. Though he knew it was the first-of-a-kind meeting that brought together the major stakeholders, not much would be achieved; the researchers believed in creating and sparkling insights for industries to take a step further and involve the scientists to use their expertise to find the cause of the problem.
For certainty, the available food options, especially the manufacturing of junk food, increase the liability of the black community, and the need to appreciate the significance of maintaining healthy diets is a crucial step in finding a lasting solution. As such, there is no getting around the consequences of industrial food formulations. Companies would have to reduce their use of fat, salt, and sugar and probably impose a limit on the food industry. Again, companies had to return to the drawing table and re-strategise strategy, especially in commercials. Nutritional aspects of food products ought to be considered a great deal, more importantly to children.
The study is a revelation of the need to integrate future efforts in consideration of diminishing the social disparities in our society. It is upon the government to support community resource centres to help eliminate the prevalence of racial differences and segregation of neighbourhoods by colour. Additionally, the social environment must be improved, and the development of accessible healthcare resources must be developed to help in the management of hypertension, as it could have detrimental implications.
Conclusion
Following the study findings, there is a substantial risk of increasing attacks of hypertension for low-income families and black women due to several natural and social factors. Factors such as social and environmental disorders, which include lack of food and unhealthy lifestyle, low income, and social disconnect, will develop the stress phenomenon. As a result, it triggers high blood pressure, leading to hypertension. The most vulnerable group identified in this research is African Americans, especially black women. Ensure the prevention and proper management of hypertension and pre-hypertension through the adoption of healthy lifestyles and consumption of healthy foods for a healthy society that can contribute to the development of neighbourhood infrastructure.
References
Al-Bayan, M., Islam, N., Edwards, S., & Duncan, D. T. (2016). Neighbourhood perceptions and hypertension among low-income black women: a qualitative study. BMC Public Health, 16(1), 1075.
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