African Americans In Health Care Essay

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The situation of discrimination against African American citizens in the field of healthcare is an ongoing social issue which has been a part of the United States since time immemorial. Discrimination in healthcare continues to negatively affect the quality of care that African American citizens get. In this form of discrimination, the biases and stereotypes can cause health care providers to discriminate against African Americans, hence receiving poor treatment, lack of access, and poor health outcomes. It is an imperative matter to address such an issue and work in the direction of eliminating discrimination in the field of health care in order to ensure that each person gets fair and quality medical care. Every citizen of America should …show more content…

This can range from longer wait times to fewer options for treatment and less thorough examinations. In a newspaper article from PBS, the author Sciacca states,” An analysis by the nonprofit Urban Institute published in 2021 found that Black patients are much more likely to suffer problems related to surgical procedures than white patients in the same hospital.” This quote shows how African American patients are receiving lower quality of healthcare compared to a white patient. Implicit biases and stereotypes can affect decisions made by healthcare providers to alter diagnosis, treatment, and overall health outcomes.Another quote that was found from the PBS article, Sciacca states,”And a study published in January. found that older Black and Hispanic patients with advanced cancer are less likely to receive opioid medications for pain than white patients.” This evidence proves how African American patients along with other minority groups There needs to be concerted efforts put in place to address and eliminate such disparities for equal and quality healthcare service delivery. Everyone deserves equal access to healthcare services and …show more content…

This can prove that patients can lack a good relationship with their physician when they are white. Also, it may lead to discriminatory care, delayed care, or even inadequate care, and it leads to the worsening of health disparities. As seen on YouTube, “Present day personal or intergenerational experiences of discrimination oppression as well as negative encounters with public figures such as law enforcement can all fuel medical mistrust.” (“Racism and Medical Mistrust in Health Care,” 00:04:01-00:04:13) This quote from the video shows where mistrust towards providers stems from for most African American patients. There should be no difference in the availability of services in the clinic as the patient-provider relationship is built on trust, respect, and equal treatment, irrespective of the race or ethnicity. This calls for targeted and sustained measures toward eliminating discrimination as a determinant of whether healthcare is accessible and effective for all

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