Final answer:
Healthcare system factors contributing to health disparities include access to care, quality of care, the underrepresentation of minorities in medical research and professions, and cultural insensitivities leading to mistrust. Improvement requires educating patients and engaging with communities using tailored, culture-specific approaches.
Step-by-step explanation:
Factors within the healthcare delivery system contributing to health disparities include unequal access to care, the quality of care received, and culturally insensitive healthcare practices. African Americans, for instance, experience poorer health outcomes and have less access to quality care. Disparities also arise from the underrepresentation of minorities in medical research and healthcare professions, with less than 6% of physicians being Black. The combination of these factors and the resulting medical mistrust in the community significantly contribute to the perpetuation of health disparities among racial, ethnic, and gender groups in the United States.
Efforts to improve health equality must include patient health education and literacy to ensure they understand medical information and prevention strategies. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) shows the importance of engaging with the community for more effective identification and addressing of health disparities. Moreover, solutions must consider the unique circumstances of each group and be tailored to their specific needs and cultural contexts, highlighting the importance of culturally relevant data collection.