A health crisis usually involves a sudden or severe physical condition that requires immediate attention and can’t wait until the next day. Symptoms include severe chest pain, difficulty breathing or uncontrolled bleeding.
A crisis can also be the result of an accident or other event such as a natural disaster, or a chronic medical condition like diabetes, cardiovascular disease or asthma. People often make mistakes in a health crisis because they aren’t thinking clearly and are overwhelmed. They may try to cope with the crisis on their own or delay seeking help because they think it won’t get any worse.
In times of economic change, healthcare systems can struggle to maintain their ability to provide quality care to all patients. Reforms prompted by the global financial crisis and subsequent years of austerity have impacted many aspects of health system performance, including workforce engagement. This realist review explores how health workers’ responses to these shocks can lead to negative outcomes and how they can be mitigated.
KFF polling shows that a significant share of adults are concerned about their ability to afford health care costs, and those with lower incomes are more likely to have had trouble paying their bills in the past year. CDC works to ensure that all people have the opportunity to achieve their best possible health by focusing on the social determinants of health, especially those that impact some groups more than others. This includes addressing the gaps in access to health care that disproportionately affect poor households and racial and ethnic minority populations.