Racial Disparities in Healthcare
Healthcare is supposed to be a safe haven for everyone. It is supposed to be a place where people receive the medical attention that they need, so that they can live longer and healthier lives, but this is not always the case. There has been many studies that has shown that racial disparities amongst the healthcare profession still exists today. The reason why I say today, is because this is not an issue that just started, this is an issue that has been present for decades unfortunately. This injustice makes it nearly impossible for people of color to see the healthcare system as a safe haven. Instead, it could be viewed as a place that caters to white people more than people of color. You may be wondering where this issue has originated from, and why it still continues today. If these are the questions that are running through your head, then you are at the right place.
Once upon a time there was a such thing as segregation. I know that we all know about this term if we ever took an American history course before in school. After the Jim Crow period, the Civil Rights Movement broke out. At this time, there was a cluster of problems that African American people wanted to see change for the better. According to the article Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities and the Unfinished Civil Rights Agenda by David Smith it states, "The civil rights era efforts to end disparities in health care in federally financed health programs faced three successively more difficult challenges:1(ending Jim Crow practices that segregated patients by race; (2) eliminating more subtle forms of segregation shaped by physician referral practices, insurance status, and residential location; and (3) assuring that once racial and ethnic minorities had access to the same health care settings as whites, they would receive nondiscriminatory treatment". This statement above
shows that this has been an issue for a while. It also shows that African Americans faced discrimination that was absolutely inhumane. If you know anything about American history, then you know that during the Civil Rights period, slavery was technically over. I say technically, because even though African Americans were not being enslaved, they were still treated unfairly. Since slavery was technically over, that means that every human being should be treated with respect and dignity right? We all see that this was not the case, and sadly this trend continues today.
According to the American College of Physicians it states, "Minorities have less access to healthcare than whites. The level of of uninsurance for Hispanics is 34% compared to 13% among whites. Native Americans and Native Alaskans more often lack prenatal care in the first trimester. Nationally, minority women are more likely to avoid a doctors visit due to cost. Racial and ethnic minority Medicare beneficiaries diagnosed with dementia are 30% less likely than whites to use anti-dementia medications". These statistics above are just scrapping the surface of all of the racial disparities that are happening in healthcare amongst all ethnicities and races of color today. This is just shedding light on the few cases that were researched out of thousands of others. This shows that this is an issue that needs to be talked about and discussed, because everyone deserves to have access to healthcare, and also be treated well when they receive medical attention. This is not a lost cause thought. There are some things that can be changed to try to fix this problem that has been around for decades. We could start by providing residents with affordable healthcare, give all patents high quality health care despite race, and physicians could educate themselves on the culture and linguistics of their patients. By doing this, we can get the wheels turning to more equality for everyone amongst the healthcare field.
shows that this has been an issue for a while. It also shows that African Americans faced discrimination that was absolutely inhumane. If you know anything about American history, then you know that during the Civil Rights period, slavery was technically over. I say technically, because even though African Americans were not being enslaved, they were still treated unfairly. Since slavery was technically over, that means that every human being should be treated with respect and dignity right? We all see that this was not the case, and sadly this trend continues today.
According to the American College of Physicians it states, "Minorities have less access to healthcare than whites. The level of of uninsurance for Hispanics is 34% compared to 13% among whites. Native Americans and Native Alaskans more often lack prenatal care in the first trimester. Nationally, minority women are more likely to avoid a doctors visit due to cost. Racial and ethnic minority Medicare beneficiaries diagnosed with dementia are 30% less likely than whites to use anti-dementia medications". These statistics above are just scrapping the surface of all of the racial disparities that are happening in healthcare amongst all ethnicities and races of color today. This is just shedding light on the few cases that were researched out of thousands of others. This shows that this is an issue that needs to be talked about and discussed, because everyone deserves to have access to healthcare, and also be treated well when they receive medical attention. This is not a lost cause thought. There are some things that can be changed to try to fix this problem that has been around for decades. We could start by providing residents with affordable healthcare, give all patents high quality health care despite race, and physicians could educate themselves on the culture and linguistics of their patients. By doing this, we can get the wheels turning to more equality for everyone amongst the healthcare field.
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