Abstract
Many patients in the country still experience stereotype threat in the clinical setting. With that, this is considered as a major contributor to disparities in the health care system. Negative stereotyping has been found to pose detrimental effects in the different physiological and psychological processes involved in the health care system and this affects the patients most of the time. Stereotyping is also said to affect the medical education most especially for trainees and medical students. Many experts believe that access to health care will definitely improve most especially to the minorities when stereotypes are prevented. In order to prevent this situation, it is important to understand the triggers and the factors which are involved in stereotyping patients in the health care system. With that, the consequences and the effects can also be understood so that health care professionals will be able to know how to improve health care to all the patients.
This paper will look into understanding the triggers of stereotyping in the health care industry and what are the effects of this most especially to the health of the patients. The surveys and the studies cited in this paper will also help health care professionals understand how this happens in the health care scene and realize that it can have detrimental effects on the health of the patients. This paper will also discuss the implication of stereotyping for the medical education and health care provider performance. With that, the paper will also provide ways on preventing and reducing stereotyping and what are the ways they can improve and provide equal service to all the patients. This will particularly help the trainees and these suggestions will be helpful if included in medical education.
Patients’ experience of stereotype threat in clinical settings and encounters may be one contributor to health care disparities. Stereotype threat occurs when cues in the environment make negative stereotypes associated with an individual’s group status salient, triggering physiological and psychological processes that have detrimental consequences for behavior. By recognizing and understanding the factors that can trigger stereotype threat and understanding its consequences in medical settings, providers can prevent it from occurring or ameliorate its consequences for patient behavior and outcomes. In this paper, we discuss the implications of stereotype threat for medical education and trainee performance and offer practical suggestions for how future providers might reduce stereotype threat in their exam rooms and clinics.KEY WORDS: stereotypes, disparities, experience, performance, trainingIntroduction
The access to health care and other services can sometimes be associated to a person’s wealth, education and employment. In today’s society, many people who belong to the minorities have little to no access to health care. Most of the time, they are also stereotyped which can lead to inequalities in health care services that they receive (Jacobsen, 2008). Many experts believe that the minorities are sometime stereotyped in the health care department as they are perceived as unintelligent and also second class citizens who are unworthy of quality care. With that, a patient experiences a stereotype threat. This happens when a person is threatened of being judged since he or she belongs to a certain minority group of ethnicity. Many health care providers may show negative personality towards the patient and does not give importance to their needs.
The result of negative stereotyping can provide discrimination and disrespectful treatment in health care and other settings. Many evidence show that health care providers hold conscious and unconscious negative stereotypes for the minorities particularly for non-white patients. This shows that stereotype threats can happen regardless of whether or not the health provider holds negative feelings towards the person because he or she belongs in a certain minority group, or manifest racial bias. Stereotyping can also influence diagnoses and treatments which can hinder quality health care to all the patients. To be able to prevent this from happening, it is important first to understand the triggers and the consequences of this for the minority patients.
It was revealed in many studies that stereotyping can be triggered for many health care providers when they learn information about their patients particularly if their names sound Hispanic or an African American comes in without insurance. With that, they can conclude that a person may be unemployed, uneducated or poor. Many health care providers think that just because someone is unemployed or does not have insurance is that they do not have the capacity to take care of themselves. This simple information can trigger stereotyping as would think that Hispanics are rarely educated or African Americans are usually poor.
Potential Consequences of Stereotyping Minority Patients
According to new research, patients who particularly felt judged by their health care provider are less likely to follow medical instructions and most likely mistrust them. It was also found out that patients who experience negative stereotyping are more prone to hypertension and depression and these are the patients who does not take their health issues seriously (Ferguson, 2015). This means that stereotyping can lead to lesser adherence to treatment. Patients who feel disturbed will less likely to follow orders from someone who might think that they are incapable of taking care of themselves and following medical instructions. When they feel like they are being discriminated, they would also have lower motivation to adhere to medical recommendations. With that, there will be lack of proper communication between the health care provider and the patient. When a patient feels threatened of stereotyping from their health care provider this will also impair self-disclosure and response to the questions being thrown at them.
Another important consequence of stereotyping to patients is that they would usually disengage with their health care provider. When people have unpleasant experience, it is most likely that they will avoid situations in which they felt uncomfortable. If a patient experiences discrimination or stereotyping with a doctor or a health care provider by making them feel inferior or unworthy of quality care, then is it most likely that a patient may never come back to address any health issues. There would be missing appointments and this will result to failing to obtain needed medical care and preventive health care services cannot be given to the patient. When patients experience long term stereotyping from their health care providers then they cannot take care of their health efficiently. Health care providers can be hindered by providing quality care to patients that is why it is important that these situations are avoided and training on understanding stereotype threats must be given to all health professionals.
Reducing Stereotype Threat
Although stereotypes can be very difficult to remove since it has been part of a bigger society for many decades now, there are still ways health care providers give comfort to their patients most especially those who belong in the minority group. The first way to reduce stereotype threat is to elicit the patient’s values and strengths during examinations and interviews. When patients feel that the person their talking to focuses on their values and strength, then they will have the confidence to confide with this person and they will not feel discriminated or stereotyped. It is also important to invoke high standards and the assurance of the patient’s ability to meet those standards. Health care providers must be able to engage with their patients equally, giving information and medical instructions without making their patients feel that they lack intelligence in understanding their orders (Burgess et al., 2010).
The key to reducing stereotype threats for minorities in the health care system is for the health care providers execute proper communications with them. It is also important that health care providers can address their patient’s anxieties and difficulties and see past their race or ethnicity. The health care provider should be able to check in what are the problems the patient experiences and gives reassurance that they will do everything they can to address these issues. The health care provider must be able to explain thoroughly the effects and the risks involved in treatment so that patients who usually do not adhere to treatments will be able to understand the importance of following doctor’s orders. With that, trainees and medical students must also undergo communication training so that they can avoid making their patients feel discriminated.
Conclusion
Given the detrimental effects of stereotyping for patients who belong in minority groups should always be remembered by health care providers. Although it is important for them to be professional at all times, promoting positive emotions is very important during clinical encounters sot that they can less likely to categorize their patients and view them in terms of their individual attributes. This is a kind of skill that must be present in all health care providers despite the fact the emotional states can vary in many ways and sometimes cannot be regulated. Health care providers must be aware that stress and negative emotions can lead to bias and stereotyping and this can definitely affect to the patient’s health.
Health care providers must have increase in perspective taking and affective empathy. This is one of the promising strategies that many experts believe would improve patient-provider relationships most especially for interracial interactions. Although emphatic skills are common in medical training, many health care providers still fail to recognize inherent obstacles to empathizing with their patients. It is common for people to feel less empathy for people they think who are dissimilar or indifferent from them and this include members of the minority class. The health care industry must be able to provide more programs on proper communication with patients and students and trainees the use of different strategies in order to reduce bias and stereotype threats.
References
Burgess, D. J., Warren, J., Phelan, S., Dovidio, J., & Van Ryn, M. (2010). Stereotype Threat and Health Disparities: What Medical Educators and Future Physicians Need to Know. J GEN INTERN MED, 25(S2), 169-177. doi:10.1007/s11606-009-1221-4
Ferguson, D. (2015, October 21). Healthcare stereotyping can negatively affect patient outcomes. Retrieved from www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/healthcare-stereotyping-can-negatively-affect-patient-outcomes/2015-10-21
Jacobsen, K. H. (2008). Introduction to global health (2nd ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Pub.
