Why do health and health care disparities exist?

Health and health care disparities result from many factors. Differences in health can be related to individual factors resulting from genetic or biological differences among ethnic groups or between men and women. Individual differences in health and health care could also be related to culture, which can affect how people behave or the decisions that they make. Disparities in health and health care can also be related to environmental factors such as where people live and their exposure to diseases and harmful substances. Social factors, such as availability of health care, or level of income, or amount of education, can also lead to health and health care disparities. The doctors and nurses taking care of people can contribute provider factors that play a role in creating health disparities. And finally, decisions regarding the organization and staffing of the location where people seek care, or health system and policy factors, can also affect disparities.

Disparities in health and health care are most likely caused by many of these factors in combination.