As you have read this week, there are a number of factors related to health inequality and disparities in the United States. The consequences of these are often demonstrated in the disparities in health outcomes found between racial and ethnic populations. Awareness and understanding of these disparities and their impact on the health of our population and our communities is critical for health care and human service professionals in the field.

1. Find a peer reviewed journal article that addresses health disparities or disparities in health outcomes of a particular health condition/concern (i.e., obesity, breast cancer, high blood pressure, infant mortality, etc.). A quick search of the library databases using, for example, the keywords Health Disparities in Breast Cancer, will produce a wealth of information from which to choose your article.
2. Second, in a post of a minimum of 150 words, give a brief overview of the article and discuss what you think the most important take home point is. Try to pinpoint the underlying causes of the disparity and how it is impacting the health of minority or vulnerable populations. Do NOT simply read and paste the abstract. Read the entire article as I may ask you specific questions about it in the forum.

   Please check to make sure that you are not duplicating another student’s article in the forum.

Remember that quoted material is not allowed in the HSA Program. However, you must cite and reference all paraphrased material.

Read the Discussion 6-1 Prompt (opens in new tab) and then discuss with your classmates to apply what you have learned in this module.

• To avoid point loss, carefully follow all assignment instructions and rubric guidelines
• Review this Discussion Sample to get a better sense of what is expected of your discussion content and participation
• Complete your original post before 11:59 p.m. Thursday, EST
• Complete at least 2 peer replies before 11:59 p.m. Sunday, EST
• Note that responses to instructor comments do not count toward the minimum number of peer replies
• Provide properly formatted citations/references for all source material (see HSA Style Guide)
• Do not use any quoted or copied material.

Important Note: Before posting, review the guidelines for Discussion Forums (opens in new tab) so that you will understand what is expected in discussions throughout the course. Also, review the rubrics for discussion forums (opens in new tab) for an understanding of how discussion forums will be graded in this course. NOTE: you are NOT required to turn the discussion forum rubric in each week