>> How Does Healthcare Disparity Affect The Black Community?
One of the biggest problems faced in the US is to make the healthcare system as democratic, equitable, and fair to everyone is racism and bias. While many minority communities in the country face this, certain pre-existing notions put the black community at greater risk. By understanding the disparity in the healthcare system, we can move forward towards making policies and decisions for inclusivity and justice.
Understanding the Unique Case of the Black Community
The case of the black community is unique in this situation as they’ve been historically oppressed and are not associated with medical achievement or a good standard of living. Due to this, there is a bias when hiring healthcare practitioners of this community and when practicing healthcare on them.
In some instances, black people have to wait longer to get help at the ED and are further down the line on waiting lists. Studies have shown that surgeries performed on black people tend to be rushed and performed less carefully than those done in other communities. They also offered a poorer quality of medical services provided to them.
How Does Healthcare Disparity Affect Black Community?
Healthcare disparity often affects the black community in many ways. Some of the most prominent methods are as follows:
Obstruction in Receiving Healthcare
It is difficult for black people to receive healthcare effectively and timely manner instead of their white counterparts. Firstly the average cost of healthcare for a family in the US is $8,200, which is 11% of the annual income of an average white household and 20% of the average yearly income of a black household. Black people are also more likely to be denied help at a hospital than white people.
Being Excluded from Research and Development
When research and development are being carried out for new medical development, black people have mostly left out of the target population that the drug or practice's target population. Many medical devices such as pulse oxymeters disadvantage black people due to their skin color and lead to inaccurate medical results. Most medical textbooks feature white bodies for recognition of diseases and conditions which are difficult to identify on black people.
Threat to Black Healthcare Practitioners
Healthcare disparities are so prominent against black communities that many healthcare practitioners and professionals are at risk of workplace violence or other harm by patients. In some cases, people simply refuse to be treated by a black doctor and throw racial slurs at them. Black doctors are also treated differently by the police and justice system if they are ever involved in legal processes.
Lack of Involvement in Decision and Policy Making
It’s only been a decade since we have started to see the growing participation of members of the black community as healthcare leaders. For the longest time, the black community has lacked policy-making and decision-making involvement. This often leads to the community being affected by healthcare policies that exclude them or do not care about their differences.
The Main Takeaway
Public health is the most significant implication for healthcare disparities affecting the black community. The case of the pandemic itself and the reluctance of members of the black community in the US and developed countries to get vaccinated in the original drive shows their mistrust of the healthcare system. People losing hope in the systems built to care for them is the opposite of what healthcare in the US is trying to achieve. There cannot be a unified public response to any health crisis if most of the population is misrepresented and subjected to malpractice in the medical and healthcare field.
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