English - The research paper
Even after decades, racial tensions and discriminations have not been erased completely. Racial injustices to African-Americans continue to pervade even today and compel President Obama to speak on the issue. With more than a third of the US population belonging to ethnic minority groups, it would be a mistake to ignore issues related to racism.
Can racism spread its roots in the health care industry and if it has, is racism is a significant barrier to accessing healthcare? Those are tough questions and need some studies. The essay explores the disparities in health care systems experienced by the racial minorities and the ground realities. It discusses the documentary film on the racism-“"The Deadliest Disease in America,"” and talks about African American experiences encountering racism in the healthcare system and how successful it is in assessing the subject of racism in medical care.
Racial and ethnic minorities often display a poorer health quality as compared to the White non-minorities. Racism has been a much talked about subject in the US. However, when and how it traveled into the healthcare industry remains to be seen. Stereotyping and biases contribute to the treatments provided in health care and shape the experience of the patients \belonging to ethnic minorities.The Deadliest Disease in America "The Deadliest Disease in America," is a documentary film on the subject of racism in the healthcare system. The film runs for about an hour and has been produced and directed by Crystal Emery. The film carries real experiences of African Americans facing racism in the healthcare system. The filmmaker hopes that by sharing those stories, the film will draw attention to the issue and get more people involved to do something about the issue of racism in healthcare. ‘The Deadliest Disease in America,” lends voice to events and stories that lie forgotten or ignored. The film forces medical practitioners to release how racism has penetrated the medical practice and health care profession. There is no denying that the film is a brave effort that is sure to evoke reactions everywhere from the audience (Documentary Film and Workshop 2009).
The 2008 documentary leaves the audience in collective shock when they see the participants telling their stories. The film looks at racism in health care and relays on personal anecdotes, disturbing statistics and professional commentaries that add to the credibility of the film. The film becomes all the more powerful as it is based on the story of the director, Crystal Emery, who believes that the film should end with people having discussion and dialogs and not simply leave. The community organizations should focus on empowering themselves and get empowering to bring positive changes. Moreover, make a difference. Emery made the film because of her own negative experiences with racism in the health care industry. According to her, the personal journeys of each patient through the health care system is stressful already. What makes things worse is the discrimination among the patients. She hopes that the documentary would create awareness and inspire more people to take action. She hopes that the film will work as a tool to get work done and make changes on the ground realities. It is essential for the healthcare providers and the patients to understand racism in health care and how it affects one.
While efforts are being made to understand racial disparities, it is essential to understand that racial and ethnic disparities are already pervading health care industry. There is consistent evidence that patients are experiencing racial discrimination often show poorer health outcomes. In other words, racial or ethnic discrimination is directly associated with poorer health status. Before making efforts to curb instances of racial discrimination, it is essential to recognize the vulnerable patient populations in health care settings that are more at risk of facing discrimination of any sort.
African Americans are more likely to face some type of discrimination in health care settings because of their race. In the latter half of the 20th century, African Americans got their treatments from racially segregated facilities. (Logan et al. 792). The measurement of racism in healthcare settings is still limited. It is also found that the level of discrimination experienced among the Black is not the same and differs. In some studies, small differences have been found between level of healthcare trust among the Blacks’ and Whites.'
Racial and ethnic minorities are often looked down upon and disrespected. As a result, the care they receive gets influenced by those prejudices. Racial discrimination threatens vulnerability and adds to mistrust in physician (Hammond 6). Racial discrimination is commonly reported by African Americans, and it is logical to assume that the discrimination carries on in the health care settings. An essential goal of the healthcare system and positive interventions should be to increase awareness among the physicians for the need of respectful clinical encounters towards the ethnic minorities. There is evidence that shows that racism is a stressor that can impact health and contribute to health disparities. Different levels of contributing to health disparities can add to the variability within minority groups and lead to negative health outcomes. Preventive strategies and timely interventions can curb the psychological or physiological effects of the stressor.
Prenatal care for African American women
PNC or prenatal care foundation helps to lower the risk of maternal morbidity and mortality among women. It encourages early screening for psychosocial risk factors and protect the mother and her baby. Unfortunately, it is seen that African American women encounter racial differences when they enter PNC. As per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, racial differences in PNC initiation are influenced by education, socioeconomic position, marital status, age, parity, etc. (Slaughter-Acey et al. 1).
As racism is hypothesized as a barrier to PNC, it is essential to study the link between PNC initiation and racism among pregnant African American women. A study done in Baltimore City on pregnant African American women was done to assess their personal and group experiences on racism. More than 60% acknowledged personal and group racism (Slaughter-Acey et al. 7). However, it was also seen that the denial of racism was higher among the younger women who were educated and had more financial resources. The women in the sample study acknowledged that racism impacted their lives through personal experiences.
Perceived trust in healthcare
The trust in health professionals and healthcare organizations is linked to the satisfaction among the patients and how they get treated. Several studies have reported higher mistrust among African Americans for the healthcare organizations. The mistrust also points to the range of racial and ethnic disparities faced by African Americans in health care. Because of the mistrust, African American attend fewer healthcare appointments as compared to their white counterparts and are thus less likely to get help from physicians. Medical mistrust doctors and caregivers are seen as a barrier for the group (Hammond 3). An investigation done in this direction hope to understand the void relating to medical mistrust in a community.
Certain background factors along with healthcare-specific experiences reinforce or weaken the mistrust. Background factors such as personality, the level of education and socialization factors along with healthcare experiences in the recent times, or any discrimination experiences impact the mistrust directly (Hammond 4). As the physicians serve as trust agents for medical organizations, it is essential to focus on how they interact with patients. Patients make judgments based on the verbal and nonverbal behaviors of the physicians (Hammond 5). The communication style between the physician and his patient is often used as one marker of healthcare.
Racism in child health care
Racism is known to affect physical and mental health conditions. When studying racism in child health care, it is a complicated situation as certain developmental effects are unique to children. So many factors are involved here, such as raising children of color in a racially sensitive society and experiences of racism by the family members (Pachter and Cynthia 255). Studies on racial discrimination as a racial discrimination show negative effects on the health of the child. Depression and anxiety are common and lead to depressive symptoms such as low self-esteem among children (Pachter and Cynthia 259). Perceptions of racism are associated with problems. As child health and development are entrenched in larger realms of society, any impact of racism on other family members can send a rippling effect in the family, including children. Perceptions of racial discrimination can lead to the poor psychological functioning and lower parenting satisfaction. Racial discrimination can create anger in Native American youth who are likely to turn to smoking, alcohol, and drugs. Besides, parental experiences of discrimination are connected with children's substance use (Pachter and Cynthia 264).
Veterans and racial discrimination
Along with ethnic minorities, another patient population, military veterans are known to carry unique health care needs and form a minority population. These veterans face physical and psychological challenges even when they come back home. It is essential to evaluate if the health care system is able to adapt successfully to the needs of these patients. The VA patient population receive health care from the Veterans Affairs (VA) health care and outside of the system. The patient population comprises of an inconsistent number of patients who belong to the racial and socioeconomic groups and thus are at a higher risk of experiencing discrimination (Hausmann et al. S718).
Data from the study based on a national survey to examine the rates of perceived racial discrimination in health care, reflects racial discrimination in health care overall, among veterans and nonveterans. However, the findings suggest that, despite unique needs, veterans who have served in the military do not perceive racial discrimination in health care settings as compared to the nonveterans. The issue of racial discrimination among veterans drew attention when a report in 2007 indicated more than 50% of African American veterans facing discrimination when receiving health care services. It is seen that the greater pervasiveness of patient characteristics places the patients at higher risk of discrimination, such as the lower socioeconomic status and minority race.Different studies on racism in health care Diabetes is a serious and complex disease but can be controlled through diet, medications and exercise. American Indians and Alaska Natives carry the highest rate of diabetes in the United States. Diabetes can be difficult to manage and it is essential to provide can be difficult to manage. It is essential to provide health information on Diabetes to American Indians and Alaska Natives’ and how to manage their diabetes. Studies have found that lack of health insurance and funding are the major roadblocks to care (Tomar et al. 1012).
When culturally sensitive cancer prevention resources among the ethnic minority populations were proposed, the aim was to judge the development and testing of cancer prevention. Questionnaires were used as measuring tools to evaluate the cultural sensitivity among the targeted African American populations. Results of this study hint that there is a need to develop better guidelines and definitions for cancer-related knowledge and beliefs among Ethnic minority populations.
It is observed that American Indian women are less likely to survive breast cancer as compared to women of other races. Screening mammography is essential to detect breast cancer early. However, studies reflect that American Indian show the lower use of screening mammography as compared to the non-Hispanic White women. When records of women attending mammography facilities in Colorado was studied, it was found that most of the American Indian women had no health insurance and had lower education and income. Perhaps the lack of education is the cause of lower awareness of screening mammography and its importance among American Indian women (Tomar et al. 1014).
The satisfaction and trust among patients Studies reveal that patients feel happy when they are satisfied with the kind and level of healthcare service they receive. Patients who are not pleased are less likely to follow medical advice and will probably go to the health care setting or doctor. Thus, it is essential for the hospitals and healthcare providers to gauge the satisfaction level of their patients. When a survey was a dozen on a group of African Americans and Whites who received care from an outpatient clinic, regarding the respect, discrimination and stereotyping, it was found that both groups agreed that the satisfaction of the patients was important to the healthcare profession. The experience of the patients relies on his access to care, convenience, communication, respectfulness and respectfulness in general to build the perceived quality of care (Tomar et al. 1011).
If the patient has a good experience with the doctors or hospitals, he is likely to have more trust and stick to that health care organization. Past studies indicate that Whites carry a higher level of trust in the healthcare system as compared to the Blacks. It is also fount that the levels of trust vary within the same ethnic groups. Patients shape their trust from experience, and as African Americans often get unfair treatment at hospitals, because of their race, they show lower trust in the health care facilities. The levels of trust varied because of how the patient was treated by the doctors. By eliminating racism from healthcare will also lead to the removal of variance in trust between Blacks and Whites (Tomar et al. 1013).
Trust physicians by the patients play an important role in the healthcare setting. The patient characteristics do not influence trust, but they do influence the perception of the physician towards him. Why Blacks’ trust physicians and hospitals lesser than the Whites’ point to several reasons working underneath. Trust is not be a racial attribute and patients carry a higher trust in their own physicians.
The University of Florida Health Sciences Center agreed on a study to lower racial disparities in oral cancers in Florida. According to the perception of racism, the African Americans were less likely to get the same type of treatment during cancer screening as the Whites (Logan et al. 793). The study made comparisons of the trust levels among Black and White respondents from low-to-medium income. Consistent with some preceding findings, the Blacks scored lower on trust than Whites. However, the perception of racism too had a role to play here and research shows that distrust among African Americans’ arises because of their racial prejudice and their past experiences during medical encounters (Logan et al. 796).
Conclusion
If one traces the roots of America’s history, racial discriminations have been there all the time. Despite being so much discussed upon and legal reforms, the deadly disease has taken strong roots in the society and even spread to the health and medical care. With a study rise in the population of black, it is essential to stop ignoring the issue and take some meaningful steps in this direction. Disturbing facts reveal that because of the discrimination at hospitals, the racial and ethnic populations suffer not only poorer health outcomes but lower life expectancy and other psychological effects. Different studies point to the stereotyping and biases faced by the ethnic minorities in health care settings that corrode their level of trust. There is a higher probability that the patient might never return or not follow the medical advice. It is also seen that the level of distrust and perspective on racial discrimination may vary within the same ethnic population. One can only imagine the repercussions and negative impacts on the health care environment if those perceptions and racism continue. It will not only lead to poorer quality of health care but add other social problems such as alphol and drug abuse among the minorities. The first step should be to spread awareness on the issue and more documentaries such as "The Deadliest Disease in America," made to make people aware. The health care providers should be educated about the subject and eliminate racism from their practices and perceptions. Once racism gets eliminated, it will raise the level of trust between Blacks and their healthcare professionals, thus leading to higher satisfaction for both and superior health outcomes. Local communities should be empowered to enforce meaningful changes in this direction. After all, every human beings entitled to good health, irrespective of his race and color.
Works Cited
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