Health Disparities in Merced & Stanislaus Counties

PlusInc and Legacy Health Endowment are working to address health disparities in Merced and Stanislaus Counties in California. Like many communities in California, both Merced and Stanislaus Counties have many health conditions afflicting its residents. Our collaborative effort pays particular interest in how COVID-19, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Mental Health Services, Substance Use Disorder and HIV/AIDS are impacting our local communities. Legacy Health Endowment provides funding and technical support to create healthcare solutions and facilitate improved wellness within Stanislaus and Merced Counties.

-> Learn more about health disparities in Merced County

-> Learn more about health disparities in Stanislaus County

Due to the incidence rate being so low for some of these health conditions in Merced and Stanislaus Counties, county data are not broken down into demographic categories in order to protect the identities of patients. Nonetheless, it does provide a glimpse into what is happening in the northern San Joaquin Valley section of the Central Valley, California. To achieve greater health equity, our healthcare infrastructure needs to identify the health disparities that exist in the United States, and how they can vary from one health condition or another.

Patients Have a Stake in Health Equity, too

In recent years, “health equity” terminology has become increasingly used in the national conversation about healthcare in the United States. Health equity is often used interchangeably with another term, health disparities, although each one has its own unique meaning. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), “Health equity is when everyone has the opportunity to be as healthy as possible. Health disparities are differences in health outcomes and their causes among groups of people. Many health disparities are related to social determinants of health, the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age.” (CDC, 2020) To achieve greater health equity, our healthcare infrastructure needs to identify the health disparities that exist in the United States, and how they can vary from one health condition or another.

In 2016, a multimodal survey of mayors and health commissioners was conducted by Jonathan Purtle, et al. and it yielded some interesting findings. First of all, less than half of the mayors and health commissioners contacted took the time to complete the survey — which in and of itself, is a sad indictment on how those officials prioritize public health in their respective jurisdictions. That aside, Purtle reported, “Forty-two percent of mayors and 61.1% of health commissioners strongly agreed that health disparities existed in their cities. Thirty percent of mayors and 8.0% of health commissioners believed that city policies could have little or no impact on disparities.” Not surprisingly in today’s political climate, ideology is strongly associated with opinions about disparities. (Purtle, 2018)

Maybe part of the problem is the terminology, health equity and health disparities, is not defined explicitly. Nearly a decade ago, Paula Braveman, MD, MPH warned, “Ambiguity in the definitions of these terms could lead to misdirection of resources.” Dr. Braveman outlined the why explicit definitions are needed, because “not all health differences are health disparities” (Brakeman, 2014).

Health disparities exist, as defined by Dr. Bravemen through a social justice lense, and they are getting worse. Whereas numerous organizations committed to health equity exist, none approach health disparities specific to health conditions from the patient perspective. This is why PlusInc exists.