Week 4 Response

This article was really interesting, though I can not say that I was surprised by the information it detailed. In the U.S. there are huge disparities not just between people of different socioeconomic groups, but also amongst people of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. As a result of this, we also see huge disparities amongst these groups in the issues of health care and access to it. Not only is there limited acess of health care to people of low socioeconmoic status there is also discrimination towards these groups as a result of this and other factors such as race. It was interesting to see that of all the OECD countries that the United States had the highest infant mortality rates. This then brings to my mind, questions what can be done to improve our methods of health care for people of all backgrounds. I often look at the health care system of the U.K. as a possible model of health care that the U.S. could adopt. However, after a recent discussion with a Stanford Professor, I have learned that you can't just adopt the health care system of another country without taking into account the cultural and political systems of the specific country. Therefore, in order for the U.S. to improve our approach to health care for all people, we must address our cultural needs. We need to focus on ways in which we can close the gap between the socioeconomic groups. Not just in terms of health care alone, but in all others areas i.e, the workplace and in our education systems. Once we close this gap, then can we move on towards creating a more appropriate and much needed health care system.