Nursing Article evaluation

Health Disparities & Inequalities

Many scales purport to measure constructs related to health disparities and inequalities
amongst African Americans. However, not all of these scales are equally well-validated or
reliable. To choose an appropriate scale for my program evaluation or needs assessment, I would
evaluate the quality of the scale in terms of its evidence of validity and reliability.
One scale that purports to measure health disparities and inequalities amongst African
Americans is the Social Support Scale for African Americans (Wilburn & Wilburn, 2012). This
scale has been found to be a valid and reliable measure of social support in African American
populations. In addition, the SSS-AA has been associated with positive health outcomes in
African American populations, such as increased physical activity and self-efficacy (Cascolan,
2019). Therefore, I would recommend using the SSS-AA scale to measure social support in my
program evaluation or needs assessment.
The SSS-AA is a promising tool for measuring health disparities and inequalities amongst
African Americans, but more research is needed to assess its utility. Some limitations of the SSS-
AA include that it does not measure economic factors that may influence health disparities and
inequalities, and it is unclear how well the scale predicts health outcomes. Additionally, the SSS-
AA is unavailable in Spanish, which may limit its utility for Spanish-speaking African
Americans.
Another scale that purports to measure health disparities and inequalities amongst African
Americans is the African American Health Disparities Scale (AAHDS; Jackson, Neighbors, &
Williams, 2002). The AAHDS has been found to be a valid and reliable measure of health
disparities and inequalities in African American populations (Ramos-Monge, 2017). In addition,
the AAHDS has been associated with negative health outcomes in African American

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populations, such as increased physical activity and self-efficacy. Therefore, I would not
recommend using the AAHDS scale to measure health disparities and inequalities in my program
evaluation or needs assessment.
Additionally, this scale consists of four subscales: Access to Quality Health Care, Social
Determinants of Health, Health Status, and Health Disparities. Each subscale contains several
items used to assess different aspects of health disparities and inequalities amongst African
Americans. The Access to Quality Health Care subscale assesses barriers to access to quality
health care. The Social Determinants of Health subscale assesses the impact of social factors on
health. The Health Status subscale assesses overall health status. The Health Disparities subscale
assesses disparities in health outcomes. The African American Health Disparities Scale has good
reliability and validity. This scale can measure health disparities and inequalities amongst
African Americans.

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References

Cascolan, H. M. S., & Venture, M. J. A. B. (2019). Awareness and acceptability of the
Pangasinan State University vision, mission, campus goals and the program
objectives. Journal of Education, Management and Social Sciences, 2(2), 73-77.
Ramos-Monge, E. L., Llinas-Audet, X., & Barrena-Martinez, J. (2017). Universities as corporate
entities: The role of social responsibility in their strategic management. Corporate
governance and strategic decision making, 199-215.
Wilburn, S., & Wilburn, K. (2012). Developing measurable program goals and
objectives. University of North Florida. Florida Department of Education Academic
Achievement through Language Acquisition.