Putting Men's Health Care Disparities On The Map: Access and Utilization Highlights

Publication Date: September 2012

Publisher: Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

Author(s):

Research Area: Health; Population and demographics

Keywords: health care utilization

Type: Report

Abstract:

This fact sheet provides a brief overview of racial disparities in health access and utilization among men of different races in the United States. It draws findings from the report, Putting Men’s Health Care Disparities On the Map, which uses national data sources from multiple years to generate state-level estimates on a range of indicators of health status, access, and well-being for men of different racial and ethnic backgrounds. Men and women use health care differently. In some cases, men and women use different types of care and in others, services are utilized at different rates. Men generally use health care at lower rates than women. This is largely due to lower rates of chronic illness among men as well as women’s reproductive health care needs. In addition to gender differences, men of different racial and ethnic backgrounds access and utilize care differently.