Racism is a phenomenon that impacts people on multiple levels. The domains that racism affects are the economy, education, healthcare, etc. While the US healthcare system is supposed to have one main objective, which is mitigating health risks for the general population, the controversy is that certain minorities are more prone to experiencing discrimination in this field. Some of the causes include the biased opinions of doctors, the primarily white healthcare providers, poverty that does not allow some individuals to have access to quality care, and other factors. One of the effects, according to researchers, is the recent pandemic that has been especially devastating for the black community (Laurencin and Walker 9). This is illustrated by the high number of infections and mortality.
However, evidence shows that African Americans are not the only ones affected by racism in healthcare. Older minority individuals are less likely to access quality care compared to their white counterparts (Rhee et al. 580). This highlights that such discrimination is centered toward multiple non-white communities. Moreover, researchers point out that counties with primarily black demographics had three times more infections and six times more deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic (Laurencin and Walker 9).
Such numbers highlight the severity of the issue and the need for change when it comes to providing racial minorities with much-needed medical resources. Since territories where there are more African American people are more prone to being vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus in regards to infections and deaths, it is inevitable that a lack of adequate care is aimed at this particular minority. Various implementations need to be applied to the current system to minimize such situations. First, there needs to be a dialogue about it on official levels. Moreover, doctors and nurses have to be assessed in regards to how they communicate and interact with different patients. Multiple individuals refer to the current legislation as the primary evidence that racism is not systematically present within the structural levels of the country.
However, based on resources analyzing the medical field, African Americans and other racial minorities are prone to encountering problems and discrimination. However, no action towards mitigating such factors is implemented since there is no per se regulation that would have a racist connotation within healthcare facilities. Since, based on written regulations, all people are to be treated the same, no attention is paid to diminishing racism.
On the other hand, healthcare providers themselves the significant factors that lead to such adverse outcomes. Researchers point out that non-white patients often encounter issues due to delayed care and poor communication with doctors (Rhee et al. 580). In order for the current situation to change for the best, there needs to be a collective effort. Doctors can start by mitigating their bias, hospital administrators can operate under strict policies that mention inclusion and equality, and state authorities must monitor the situation by examining research and statistics about racism in the healthcare field.
Works Cited
Laurencin, Cato T., and Joanne M. Walker. “A Pandemic on a Pandemic: Racism and Covid-19 in Blacks.” Cell Systems, vol. 11, no. 1, 2020, pp. 9–10. Web.
Rhee, Taeho Greg, et al. “Impact of Perceived Racism on Healthcare Access among Older Minority Adults.” American Journal of Preventive Medicine, vol. 56, no. 4, 2019, pp. 580–585. Web.