While American society has undoubtedly made huge advances in equality among people from different backgrounds, there is still a significant amount of work to be done. The fact remains that a wide variety of institutions still have systemic issues that cause people of certain races to experience less-than-ideal outcomes.
One particular field that is still suffering from racial disparities is that of healthcare. Specifically, many people from marginalized backgrounds consistently experience poorer health outcomes than other types of patients.
Fortunately, the American healthcare system isn’t doomed to engage in this cycle for the rest of time. Rather, there are meaningful steps that can be taken to make healthcare more equitable for all people.
Here is the impact of racial disparities in today’s healthcare and how we can move forward.
Table of Contents
Current Racial Disparities in Healthcare
To understand the significant racial disparities in healthcare today, it’s important to understand how they manifest themselves. Some keyways that racial disparities in healthcare occur include:
Health education: Many individuals from certain racial backgrounds aren’t provided with the same level of health education as others. This results in poorer habits which can have a negative impact on the health of people from certain backgrounds.
Health outcomes: Though it seems like we would have moved past this as a society by now, the truth remains that patients from certain racial backgrounds experience worse health outcomes than others. This highlights the fact that people receive different levels of care depending on their racial background.
Quality of care: The disheartening truth is that people from certain racial backgrounds typically are provided with less effective care than others from other backgrounds. This indicates that medical facilities across the country are still engaging in discriminatory practices when providing care to patients.
Access to healthcare: Patients from marginalized backgrounds often have less access to robust healthcare resources than their counterparts. This means that healthcare isn’t being provided to all patients in an equitable way.
Ways the American Healthcare System Can Move Forward
Though it’s sad for many people to confront the reality of racial disparities in healthcare, there are ways that we as a society can move forward. Anyone interested in social justice and the ways that the healthcare system can be improved can benefit from an understanding of these avenues.
Here are some keyways in which the healthcare system can move past racial disparities and achieve healthcare justice.
Ensuring a Diverse Range of Healthcare Social Workers
Healthcare social workers play a vital role in connecting patients with the healthcare resources they need to thrive and experience optimal health outcomes. However, a lack of diversity in social workers may alienate specific patients and make them less likely to reach out for help.
This being the case, the state of healthcare as a whole can be radically improved by encouraging individuals from a wide range of backgrounds to become healthcare social workers. By doing so, healthcare facilities can ensure that they’re not alienating patients and are instead making everyone feel comfortable and supported.
Keeping Primary Care Physicians Accountable for Referrals
Recent studies have shown that African Americans are typically referred to specialists less than their white American counterparts. This highlights the fact that, whether explicitly or implicitly, many doctors are still engaging in racial bias.
To stop this from happening, it’s vital that healthcare providers keep physicians accountable for these types of oversights or acts of outright discrimination. By doing so, patients from all backgrounds will be more likely to receive robust care and be connected with all of the medical resources they need to stay healthy and content.
Increasing Healthcare Information and Education for All Patients
Oftentimes, patients from minority backgrounds are less exposed to specific healthcare-related information and education. As a result, they may be coerced into receiving less-than-optimal treatments for the ailments they experience.
To make healthcare more equitable, it’s vital to make healthcare information and education more accessible to people of all races and backgrounds. By engaging in this practice, healthcare providers can ensure that all patients, regardless of their background, are given the tools to make informed healthcare decisions.
The American Healthcare System Needs to Evolve
Though many beneficial changes have been made in healthcare over the decades, there are still a significant number of systemic problems that need to be addressed and fixed. One of the most glaringly harmful of these problems is racial disparities in healthcare that cause people of certain races to consistently experience worse health outcomes.
Fortunately, these disheartening problems can be fixed by engaging in the right types of proactive habits. From keeping doctors accountable to increasing access to healthcare-related education, the American healthcare system can be transformed into a bastion of equality and integrity.
