Disparity in Medical Diagnosis

            Changes happen as time goes on. This was no different when the French Revolution took place during the late 1700s in France and in 1760 when the Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain, Europe, and the United States. Both instances led to societal and political changes as well as technological advancements. Specifically, these changes and advancements in technology have led to income inequality, the continuity of racial discrimination, as well as gender discrimination. These instances are seen in professional, medical, and recreational settings.

One could even argue that a medical setting is also a professional setting. Doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers are expected to carry themselves in a professional manner (hence the reason why a medical setting is also considered that of a professional one). They are also expected to remain unbiased and think with open minds. This is because one mistake, judgement or action has the possibility of changing the lives of a patient, either positively or negatively.

These instances do happen in One could wonder why the focus is on medical settings and not a different settings and professions, but our focus will be on the medical setting in different settings, the focus will be on medical settings; specifically on how socioeconomic income, race, as well as gender bias have led to a disparity.

 In a way, two out of three of these subtopics (race and socioeconomic position) can be seen as interconnected. This stems from the history of the United States. Slavery is intertwined with the history of the United States along with the laws that have been passed. Even after slavery was abolished white people, who were the majority and had the most political power, saw themselves as superior to black people. According to National Library of Medicine, “in 1944, a majority of white persons (55 percent) indicated that white people should have the first chance at any kind of job”. They already had much of an advantage when it came to getting hired due to their white privilege and the law being in their favor, yet they still thought that another privilege was needed on top of their many others. This text also goes into depth on the effect that negative stereotypes on black people ahs had an impact on their ability to get affluent jobs/positions as well as homes. This in turn influences their insurance packages: “Compared with white persons, black persons and other minorities have lower levels of access to medical care in the United States due to their higher rates of unemployment and under-representation in good-paying jobs that include health insurance as part of the benefit package”. With a non-existent health insurance or health insurance that isn’t up to par, it isn’t a surprise that many black people go undiagnosed for many diseases. Not only that but many can’t afford medical expenses, so they avoid going to hospitals to receive medical care.

The expense for medical attention isn’t the only thing impacting the help that black people need and the disparity they face when it comes to medical diagnoses. Another reasoning behind the disparity of medical diagnosis in the black community is implicit bias. And according to Patient Engagement Hit medical providers unconsciously have these biases that they implement when having communication with black people and people of color. While a provider may not realize that they are behaving this way, patients do recognize the bias. This in turn makes patients feel uncomfortable and they will most likely not want to receive care as often. With implicit bias “some providers may limit the depth of shared decision-making or explanations of medical concepts because their implicit bias tells them a patient does not have the health literacy to fully engage with her care”. With the very little information received by providers because of this internal but unconscious bias along with the patients being distanced because they recognize this bias, it doesn’t come as a surprise that black patients and those of color, aren’t receiving the care they need in medical settings.

Implicit bias is also related to the disparity in medical diagnosis in relation to socioeconomic status. The relation between socioeconomic status is very much close to the point of which one can’t talk about one without mentioning the other. The reality being that (in the United States) “African-Americans, Latinos, and the economically disadvantaged experience poorer health care access and lower quality of care than white Americans”, according to Forbes. Its not to say that white people can not be poor or struggle, but instead that majority of those that struggle, and face socioeconomic problems are black and Latino. The medical system in America is expensive and those who cannot afford it avoid going to the hospital to seek medical attention or advice unless necessary. This can even be until symptoms of an unknown disorder get out of hand, which at that point because of the lack of care may be irreversible.

Implicit bias and stereotypes of black people and those of color have an arrange of ways to im

INCOME

• How are they treated differently/similarly with THE TWO DIFFERENT DISEASES?
  • STATISTICS
  • PERSONAL ACCOUNTS OR SPECIFIC QUOTES FROM PEOPLE

GENDER

• How are they treated differently/similarly with THE TWO DIFFERENT DISEASES?
  • STATISTICS
  • PERSONAL ACCOUNTS OR SPECIFIC QUOTES FROM PEOPLE

            The root of this problem or the connection between the different reasons for the disparities in medical diagnosis is implicit bias. It comes up often which shows that a change has to be made. A change needs to be made in the system to lessen he burden and provide easier access to medical attention for those who can’t afford it. there also needs to be change made within medical institutions themselves. Change needs to start somewhere. Doctors and those in medical positions must try their best to unlearn these internalized stereotypes and biases that they may have

            A way to go about this is to educate; educate those in the field of different stereotypes and biases and the history behind them. It should also be made apparent to them the impact hat these biases and such have on black people and those of color. Statistics should be shown as well as real life accounts in order to humanize the statistics and help them further understand the detriment that any one of their decisions that are especially influenced by implicit biases, could have on patients.

Cited Sources:

1. Williams, D R, and T D Rucker. “Understanding and addressing racial disparities in health care.” Health care financing review vol. 21,4 (2000): 75-90.
2. PatientEngagementHIT. “What Is Implicit Bias, How Does It Affect Healthcare?” PatientEngagementHIT, 20 Oct. 2020, patientengagementhit.com/news/what-is-implicit-bias-how-does-it-affect-healthcare.
3. Robert Pearl, M.D. “Why Health Care Is Different If You’re Black, Latino or Poor.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 6 Mar. 2015, www.forbes.com/sites/robertpearl/2015/03/05/healthcare-black-latino-poor/?sh=40ce65a77869.