WHAT ARE THE BARRIERS THAT PREVENT AFRICAN AMERICANS FROM OBTAINING BETTER HEALTH?
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Lack of access
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Traditionally in the 1940-1950 era, segregation kept
African Americans out of most medical centers, and the type of general labor jobs
most African Americans preformed did not come with health insurance. This is
changing as more African Americans are getting more skilled jobs, health insurance
is becoming more available. |
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Fear of the discovery of an illness
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Many of us are afraid to see doctors, or get preventive
services because of the fear of having an illness discovered. The reality is,
the earlier you find an illness, the better are your chances of a cure. |
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Medical care a low priority
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Too many of us place routine medical care at the bottom
of their priority list. Far to many of us practice "crisis medicine".
We wait until we are deathly ill to see a Doctor. Many times it is to late to
reverse an illnesses damage, because it has progressed too far and you find
yourself beyond simple treatments. |
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Exclusion from large scale medical studies
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Thousands of large scale medical treatment studies are
done each year across the U.S.A. and Europe. Many of these studies determine
how we treat heart disease, cancer, diabetes and other illnesses. African
Americans, and other minorities are excluded from these studies. This is an
important point because the participants in these studies become educated about
their illness, and new types of medicines to cure or prevent the illness being
studied, They get these benefits years before the data is released to the
public. |
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