Excluded from the North American Dream: The Black Experience in Healthcare
My own reflection during Black History Month reminded me of a discussion we had in one of my third year classes where we discussed bias in medicine. Specifically, the egregious myth in hospitals and clinics around the world that black people experience less pain. The statistics were no less shocking:
A report as recent as 2016 showed 40% of first- and second-year medical students believe “black people’s skin is thicker than white people’s." [1]
Black patients were 22% less likely to receive pain medication than white people. [2]
It is no secret that black people are often left out of the North American healthcare system. This has been a problem for years, and it seems to be getting worse. African-American populations are at a higher risk for developing health disparities and diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and stroke. These diseases have been shown to be undertreated in the black population even though they are amenable to treatment.
This needs to change if we want our healthcare system to reflect equality for all races! In this article, we will explore the racism of the healthcare system and discuss what can be done to change it.
Quick facts
Hypertension affects Black people at a rate 1.5 times higher than whites [3]
Black people are 2.3 times as likely to have diabetes [4]
Strokes occur more often in African Americans than any other group [5]
African Americans are 40% more likely to die from heart disease than whites [6]
Heart Disease is the number one killer of African Americans [7]
Still believe the system is built with equality in mind?
Is your health team providing substandard care to Black patients?
Medical bias in doctors against black people is a very real issue. This racism often manifests as a lack of empathy and compassion for black patients, as well as undertreatment of black patients' diseases. This is a serious problem, as it can lead to increased health disparities and even death.
There are many healthcare programs that specifically support black patients. Some of these programs include the following:
The African Canadian Wellness Foundation provides culturally-sensitive health services to black people in Toronto. This foundation offers programs such as health education, counselling, and mental health services.
The National Institutes of Health has a program called “All of Us” which is working to enroll 1 million participants from underrepresented communities, including black people. This program will collect data on participants’ health in order to better understand why some populations are more at risk for diseases.
The Black Health Alliance provides education and support to black people in Ontario who are living with chronic diseases such as HIV/AIDS, diabetes, and hypertension. This organization also provides health screenings and workshops on healthy living.
The REACH program from the CDC is a great resource for black people who are living with chronic diseases. The program provides education and support to those who are affected by chronic diseases. It also offers health screenings and workshops on how to live a healthy life. This is a great program that is sorely needed in our community!
The Taibu Community Health Centre is a refuge for the black community in Toronto, Canada. One program they offer is mental health services which can be helpful for anyone struggling with anxiety or depression due to racism or discrimination. This organization also provides counselling services which could help someone better understand their emotions in relation to race-related issues. Taibu has been providing culturally sensitive healthcare services since 1974 when it was founded by Dr. John Lewis.
The American Heart Association has a program called “Go Red for Women” which focuses on educating black women about cardiovascular disease and the prevention of heart attacks. This program has partnered with many hospitals, city governments, and other community-based organizations in order to spread awareness.
By targeting programs such as these at specific communities such as black people, we can work to eliminate health disparities in our country.
Help me brainstorm tangible ways to improve healthcare for Black patients.
There are several steps that we as a society can take to improve the healthcare system.
We need to acknowledge that racism exists in the medical community, and it needs to be addressed head on. We need to ensure a system where black people can feel safe when going to a doctor, and this begins by making it clear that racism in the healthcare community is unacceptable.
We need to educate doctors on why this bias exists. Many white medical students receive little training when it comes to providing care for black patients, which is one of the reasons why racism in medicine is so prevalent. We need to implement more training programs that educate future doctors on the unique needs of black patients, and we need to encourage empathy amongst all practitioners.
We need to prevent racial bias among employees in hospitals who are choosing which treatment options are best for our healthcare system. We need to pressure insurance companies and medical institutions to acknowledge these biases, and we need to implement policies that help ensure black patients receive the right care at the right time.
We need doctors, nurses, and healthcare assistants from different backgrounds to engage in dialogue with one another about how they can work together as a team to provide the best care possible. We need to educate one another about cultural differences, and we need to build trust amongst people of all backgrounds.
Finally, we need to actively work with disadvantaged communities in order to help them understand how they can make good healthcare decisions for their own sake. This means putting doctors within these communities so that patients can have more of a say in their own healthcare.
We need to put these issues at the forefront of our society, and we need to make sure that black patients are no longer being underserved by the medical community. Racial disparities in medicine need to be addressed head on, but as a society we as a whole can work together to create a healthcare system that is fair for everyone.
Racism in the medical community does exist, and it needs to be addressed head on before we can even begin to work towards eliminating racial disparities in medicine. By implementing more training programs that educate future doctors about the unique needs of black patients and by encouraging empathy amongst practitioners, we can make a significant impact on how care is provided to those in need.
In order to eliminate health disparities in black communities, we need to acknowledge that racism exists in the medical community and it needs to be addressed head on. Doctors should not be allowed to deny care or provide substandard care based on racial bias. Being black should not prevent you from receiving good care! We need more programs educating future doctors about the unique needs of black patients and encouraging empathy amongst practitioners so that a significant impact can be made when caring for those who are underserved by their system.
What do you think of this article? What was most interesting or surprising to you? Is there anything else you want us to know about your perspective on racism in healthcare for African Americans and other communities of color?
Please feel free to leave a comment below. I'd love to hear what you think!
Thank you for reading.
References
Hoffman, Kelly M., et al. "Racial bias in pain assessment and treatment recommendations, and false beliefs about biological differences between blacks and whites." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 113.16 (2016): 4296-4301.
Meghani, Salimah H., Eeeseung Byun, and Rollin M. Gallagher. "Time to take stock: a meta-analysis and systematic review of analgesic treatment disparities for pain in the United States." Pain Medicine 13.2 (2012): 150-174.
Carnethon, Mercedes R., et al. "Cardiovascular health in African Americans: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association." Circulation 136.21 (2017): e393-e423.
Shen, Yun, et al. "Race and sex differences in rates of diabetic complications." Journal of diabetes 11.6 (2019): 449-456.
Lackland, Daniel T. "Racial differences in hypertension: implications for high blood pressure management." The American journal of the medical sciences 348.2 (2014): 135-138.
Graham, Garth. "Disparities in cardiovascular disease risk in the United States." Current cardiology reviews 11.3 (2015): 238-245.
Mensah, George A. "Cardiovascular diseases in African Americans: fostering community partnerships to stem the tide." American Journal of Kidney Diseases 72.5 (2018): S37-S42.