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In September 2013, I used OvidSP to search for the topic healthcare disparities. I was looking for new articles on the subject. The search returned 7,672 results. Eagerly, I reviewed the results and discovered that 7 of the first 10 articles covered healthcare disparities from a broader perspective than just in the United States. The findings from this search are an excellent reminder that healthcare disparities are nondiscriminatory; they affect us all.
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Globally, social determinants often systemically limit, hinder, or even block access to healthcare. The findings from this search on the topic of healthcare disparities, listed in the following table, identified populations from Australia, Canada, Chile, China, and Senegal that are impacted by healthcare disparities. The global phenomenon of inadequate healthcare access, delivery, and outcomes may differ from country to country, but the global goal to reduce such disparities is this: equity in care.
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SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH
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The term health disparities was defined in Chapter 2, “Common Ground: Terms and Definitions,” as follows:
A particular type of health difference that is closely linked with social, economic, and/or environmental disadvantage. Health disparities adversely affect groups of people who have systematically experienced greater obstacles to health based on their racial or ethnic group; religion; socioeconomic status; gender; age; mental health; cognitive, sensory, or physical disability; sexual orientation or gender identity; geographic location; or other characteristics historically ...