Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Healthcare

This research focuses on racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare with a keen interest in chronic conditions in the patients. Racial disparities refer to imbalances in the treatment of different groups of people based on their color while ethnic ones refer to differences among people with shared cultural values. In such cases, access-related factors such as the patient’s preferences and clinical needs do not pose a significant challenge to their treatment (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2017). As a result of these differences, people of color receive low-quality care as compared to the native population of the country. These disparities include aspects of geography, stereotypes, communication barriers and lack of access to healthcare providers (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2017). Consequently, racial and ethnic disparities negatively affect the health of minority groups by denying them the right to quality care. The killing of black men such as George Floyd raised questions on the increased instances of systemic racism in America. As a result, massive demonstrations occurred across the globe, with various countries demanding an end to discrimination based on race. The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement was at the forefront of these demonstrations, ultimately causing the topic of racism to trend across all communication channels (Buchanan et al., 2020). With my major being Health Science, this research greatly interests me due to the extensive role of race in determining access factors. Therefore, the effect of racism and ethnic disparities forms an essential part of the reform agenda in the world today. With healthcare being a necessary need for each human being, this topic plays a critical role in identifying challenges experienced by minorities in the provision of healthcare services. Learning about these challenges can help readers become knowledgeable while increasing the call to eliminate discrimination not only in health care but across all socioeconomic fronts.

Racial and ethnic disparities form a broad spectrum of issues facing minority groups in various countries. However, there was a need to focus on a specific sector to highlight the pertinent problems that play a massive role in the lives of people of color. In this regard, the healthcare sector was chosen since it forms one of the prominent areas in which disparities are present, especially in America. Being a basic need, healthcare provision should be equitable across the population as encompassed in the Universal Bill of Rights. However, it is evident that minority groups receive far less quality treatment based on health, racial and ethnic disparities. Health disparities exist across different dimensions of the population, including gender, age, sexual orientation and status of disability (Wheeler & Bryant, 2017). Therefore, with minority populations increasing across America, an increase in the aforementioned disparities poses a great danger to the wellbeing of these communities. To further reduce the scope of this research, the paper will focus on chronic conditions such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and genetic disorders. The persistent nature of such conditions poses a significant challenge to the patients in terms of financial and social impacts (Quiñones et al., 2019). Thus, the aim of this research lies in highlighting the effect of racial and ethnic disparities in the provision of healthcare to the affected individuals. Furthermore, cardiovascular disease and cancer are the leading cause of deaths in Americans across the dimensions of race, ethnicity and gender. Therefore, focusing on racial and ethnic disparities can further shed light on the high numbers experienced among these groups of the population.

The issue of racial and ethnic disparities has long raised discussions, especially in relation to healthcare provision. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2017) highlights the issue of health inequity in America. From this report, the social determinants of health are described, after which disparities in health outcomes are also identified. Health equity also forms a significant part of the focus of this report which aims at improving health outcomes for disadvantaged groups. Consequently, the outline of the book provides a unique guide to the issues surrounding health disparities while further providing the root causes of each disparity. This guideline enables a better understanding of each factor due to the clear line of thought used in highlighting the issues under study. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2017) further outline the considerable role that racial and ethnic inequities have played in the deteriorating sector despite the various efforts put in place to improve outcomes. Additionally, the subject of chronic illnesses among minorities is also covered, providing a basis for the research. As a result, such disparities play a major part in the formation of solutions to the problems faced in the healthcare sector by critically evaluating their historical, social and political contexts. Apart from that, Wheeler and Bryant (2017) define the documented racial and ethnic disparities experienced across the various healthcare levels. These levels include the patient, the healthcare provider and the entire health system, each with the individual factors that affect it. For instance, Wheeler and Bryant (2017) believe that providers possess implicit biases that contribute to health disparities with regard to their treatment of minorities. The presence of such unrecognized instances of discrimination in the interactions with people from disadvantaged races ultimately leads to the prevalence of racial and ethnic disparities.

The research process involves various steps to achieve the desired objectives of the study in answering the research question. In this case, the first steps in completing the final paper include identifying the topic, compiling background information, and organizing available data. These form the most critical aspects of the process hence require the most attention. However, the final parts need an evaluation of the data to develop a draft that will eventually form the final research report. The biggest question, in this case, would be how to effectively order these steps in completing the paper. While following conventional steps offers significant benefits, changing the measures to fit the situation may also prove to improve the efficiency of the research process. Furthermore, a considerable difficulty expected in the process would be the location, analysis and assessment of the various sources of information available under the topic. With race and ethnicity forming part of current issues in the United States, various forms of literature are available under the subject. As a result, it may become difficult to appropriately locate relevant information that would provide the best solutions to the research question. This has led to a lot of time wastage in the identification and location of relevant sources that would provide clarity in the study. Therefore, assistance to correctly identify the most appropriate sources of information would quicken the process, enabling efficient research.

References

Buchanan, L., Bui, Q., & Patel, J. K. (2020). Black Lives Matter may be the most significant movement in U.S. history. The New York Times.

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2017). Communities in action: Pathways to health equity. The National Academies Press.

Quiñones, A. R., Botoseneanu, A., Markwardt, S., Nagel, C. L., Newsom, J. T., Dorr, D. A., & Allore, H. G. (2019). Racial/ethnic differences in multimorbidity development and chronic disease accumulation for middle-aged adults. PloS one, 14(6), 1-13.

Wheeler, S. M., & Bryant, A. S. (2017). Racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care. Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinics of North America, 44(1), 1-11.