Diversity and health inequalities: the role of the practice nurse

Abstract

As the patient populations continue to diversify, Vanessa Healsip and Claire Nadaf explore the health inequalities that certain patient groups are experiencing. For practice nurses, cultural competence is a key skill in improving healthcare for all patients General practice is becoming increasingly diverse due to a changing patient base and political climate, which impacts on the practice nurse's role. Over the past decade, there has been an increase in the number of foreign-born individuals living in the UK, the number of individuals identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBQT+) as well as the number of people living with a long-term health condition or disability. All of these groups experience greater health inequalities, despite increasing political drives in the UK and internationally to address this. Practice nurses are ideally placed to address health inequalities by facilitating health access for diverse groups; however, in order to do this they have to recognise and respond to the cultural values of the patient they are working with.

The influence of sociodemographic factors and close relatives at hospital discharge and post hospital care of older people with complex care needs: nurses’ perceptions on health inequity in three Nordic cities

“…Studying health inequity in older populations is important as it undermines healthy ageing (WHO 2017 ). However, most studies on inequity in the healthcare setting have focused on providing recommendations on how to tackle it with no specific focus on the hospital discharge process (Alvarez-Dardet and Ruiz 2001 ; Healsip and Nadaf 2019 ; Woodward and Kawachi 2001 ). Recent studies on inequity in the hospital discharge have shown that language barriers (Malevanchik et al 2021 ) and lack of policy tailored to patients with no fixed address (Jenkinson et al 2020 ) contribute to inappropriate discharges and health inequity.…”

Health inequity in the UK: exploring health inequality and inequity

“…Promoting health and wellbeing is a fundamental part of every nurse's role (Nursing Midwifery Council 2018). Practice nurses are ideally placed within local communities to have a significant impact on addressing health inequities (Heaslip and Nadaf 2019). However, to achieve this they need to understand the many factors that lead to certain groups having poorer health outcomes.…”