Health Disparities among Racial and Ethnic Groups in Rhode Island

Abstract

The health of racial and ethnic minority populations has been a focus of public health for many years, due to the disparities in health status, exposure to health risks, and access to health care that are revealed when these populations are compared to the White, non-Hispanic population. At the national level, the impact of poor health on the quality and length of life for minority citizens was considered to be so fundamental that one of the three overarching goals of Healthy People 2000 was to reduce health disparities among the disadvantaged.1 In Healthy People 2010, the goal has been made even more challenging; the nation is now committed to the elimination of such disparities entirely.