Are there racial disparities in
healthcare? The short answer: yes. The quality of health care, provided by the
emergency department of a hospital, for a white patient, on average, is better
than that of an African American or Hispanic patient. This problem
is quite unsettling, considering how far American society has come in terms of
racism and prejudice. However, these disparities must be addressed, because they
have cost patients their lives. Being an African American girl with non-white
friends and family, I often wonder how these often these disparities come into
play, and if they would affect the life of a loved one.
Many medical
associations across America have realized the importance of solving this
problem in modern medicine, and many have released journals or educational
pieces in an attempt to educate and increase awareness among the medical
professionals of America. Often, these journals are filled with data sets
comparing the average time a non-white patient spends in the waiting room
compared to that of a white patient. Others discuss the fact that white
patients are more likely to receive pain medication to ease their pain, while
doctors often underestimate the pain of minority patients, and prescribe them
less pain medication. And yet, I am simply curious about whether or not the
medical professionals who practice within these studies are aware that they are
giving the white patients better treatment.
While
I am sure there are still racist medical professionals out there, I feel as
though there could just be another reason as to why this is still happening.
Perhaps, these disparities have become habit for certain professionals. Not
because they necessarily believe in the inferiority of other races, but because
they have been doing things a certain way for the better part of their careers.
As often as articles about racial disparities in healthcare are released, I
have never heard any hospital making advancements to stop this from happening
or developing a method to prevent the unequal treatment of patients. Does the
faculty of that hospital ever attempt to find ways to make the quality of
healthcare equal for everyone? How would one go about, presenting this
information to medical professionals, and creating a system that prevents this
from happening?
I agree that this is definitely something that needs to be looked in to. I do not think that it is common for physicians to consciously treat minority patients differently due to their race, so perhaps something less obvious is to blame for the disparity. One thought is that maybe quality doctors tend to flock to more wealthy areas because they seem to be more comfortable areas to live in? Since wealthy areas typically have less minority groups than do less affluent areas, this could mean that minorities have less options when looking for a doctor, leading to a poorer experience when seeking treatment.
ReplyDeleteYour post deals with an important topic due to the severe implications of racial disparities in healthcare. The racial disparities must be addressed because it is a life or death situation for some, literally. I also wonder why such disparities exist and whether health care professionals are aware of certain things they do that perpetuate these disparities. Mostly, though,I would like to know how African Americans feel about this. Are they weary to go to the doctor for treatment because they know that they won’t be treated nearly as well as other patients? Are most African American patients even aware that such disparities exist against them ? If so, how do they react?
ReplyDeleteIt would be interesting to learn more about the relationship between African Americans and the biomedical community. I feel like the history of ill -treatment of African Americans in the American healthcare system is a major reason why some African American patients may distrust medical institutions.Also, this recent history of treating African American patients unethically in the US could be why some health professionals subconsciously (or consciously) justify not treating their African American patients as well today.I would like to know whether instances such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study or the routine sterilization of African American women without consent in the 1900’s contribute to making the relationship between African Americans and the health care system the way it is today or whether the relationship has been like this even before such occurrences?