Racing To the Answers…
A play about race in the medical rooms
By: India Bellamy
Abstract:
I am doing a play. My broader audience is really people who just want to learn more and start a conversation about the topic of race and how it pertains to the medical field. I am planning on educating people as much as I can based on personal experience. My inspiration is that this pandemic has really sparked a lot of curiosity on this topic for me considering the fact that not only did I get corona, but my parents, as well as my aunt, and other family members. It has been a very trying time and has really exposed some of the flaws in the medical system. The process I am using is each act is a different life experience and incorporated in each act is a question that goes along with the things that happen in that act. At the end of the play, I present a presentation to a class on this topic. Sources for each research question are down below, and all sources are at the end. I have a lot. I will not reference them all, but I put them in because they are what I learned from and referenced when making this play. Each character has a name unique to them in the play. Some are pretty obvious, and some you have to really think about to understand. The titles of each act also have some significance. Caregiving is also a huge role in this play as the audience will see going from act to act. Each act tells an important story and leads the audience back to a question that will later be answered. Something to note when reading the play is that I split my mom and dad’s experiences with corona into two different scenes. I did this because their experiences with COVID were different in ways that could help, emphasize, and respond to my research questions. So, even though they occurred at the same time, I wanted to make it seem like it was two different times because of the different experiences.
Table of Contents:
Act 1: A Bump In the Road
Act 2: COVID Train’s First Passenger
Act 3: The Next Stop
Act 4: Train’s Deadly Crash
Act 5: What Color Is the Train
Act 6: The Questions
Act 7: The Answers
Directed by: India Bellamy
Camerawork: Covid crew productions
Act 1: A Bump In The Road
*scene opens up in a basketball gym, big crowd cheering and talking loudly nonstop*
Announcer: ANOTHER STEAL FOR BELLAMY, SHE’S TAKING IT ALL THE WAY!
*bigger sized girl runs after Bellamy and tackles her before she can get the layup off*
*there is a big “snap” noise as Bellamy and the girl lands on the floor*
Announcer: FOUL ON BROWN, THAT DOESN’T LOOK GOOD!
*gym goes extremely silent and all gasp when they hear the “snap” noise*
Bellamy: *screams loudly for 20 seconds and precedes to cry dramatically*
*team doctor comes running towards Jigna as well as her LeVon jumping down 3 flights of bleachers*
Dr. Obvious: Is it your ankle?
Jigna: *breathing heavily* duh, can’t you see the way my ankle is twisted right now
Dr. Obvious: okay okay, do you think you can walk over to the training room so we can look at it
Jigna: *annoyed, still breathing heavily* OH MY— NO
LeVon: Why can’t we just get her the wheelchair that’s two feet away from us right now and roll her to the training room?
*LeVon grabs the wheelchair, and the coach and doctor help Jigna get into the chair*
Jigna: Ouchhhhhh
LeVon: Sorry, almost there
Jigna: Okay okay, I’m in the chair, please let’s go
Coach: I will check on you later, hope everything is okay
Jigna: Yea, thanks
LeVon: You’re going to be okay
Jigna: I don’t think so
*Jigna, LeVon, and doctor all arrive at the training room*
Doctor: Okay let’s take a look at your ankle
*Jigna tries to pull shoe off*
Jigna: OUCHHHHHH *starts crying*
Doctor: let me try
Jigna: okay
*Doctor gets the shoe halfway off*
Jigna: *crying* this hurts so bad
Doctor: 1….2…3…
*Doctor yanks the shoe off*
Jigna: *crying loudly* OUCH
Doctor: Can you take your sock off for me?
Jigna: yeah, I will try
*Jigna removes sock while crying*
LeVon: *looks at ankle* DANGGGGG!! YOUR ANKLE FAT AS MY STOMACH
Jigna: *laughs a little* stop playing LeVon
LeVon: There’s that smile, I told you everything is going to be okay
Doctor: It just looks swollen and like a little sprain, I’m going to put this splint on it and would recommend it if you go to the emergency room.
Jigna: why do I need to go to the emergency room if it is just a sprained ankle
Doctor: just to be sure
Jigna: um okay, well can I at least stay and watch the rest of the game
Doctor: I would go ahead and leave now, just so they can get you in time
Jigna: dang, fine, okay
LeVon: let me go tell coach we’re about to leave and pull the car to the front door to make it easier and faster to get you in the car
Jigna: alright
*LeVon goes and tells coach bye and gets the car while the doctor is rolling Jigna out in the wheelchair to the car*
*scene moves to being in the car*
Jigna: That doctor did not seem to know what he was talking about, since when do emergency rooms close? It’s only 10:30 am
LeVon: Yeah, I don’t know
Jigna: This is so annoying, and my ankle hurts so bad
LeVon: I know Jigna, we’re almost there, just hang in there
*Jigna and LeVon arrive at the empty emergency room*
LeVon: At least there’s no one here, they should be able to see us quickly
Jigna: yea true
Nurse: Jigna Bellamy
Jigna: here we go
*LeVon, Jigna, and nurse walk back to an emergency room*
Nurse: So what brings you in today?
Jigna: *points down at splint* I hurt my ankle
Nurse: How’d you do that?
Jigna: Was going up for a layup and this girl fell on me
Nurse: Okay, well the doctor should be in shortly
*nurse leaves*
Jigna: what’s up with all these stupid questions
LeVon: *laughs* you’re funny
*doctor comes in the room*
Doctor: So you hurt your ankle?
Jigna: *looks at LeVon then back at doctor* yes
Doctor: Well I would recommend you go see Dr. Goode, he can take some x-rays of your ankle and see what’s going on. They will have his address upfront when you leave.
Jigna: okay
*doctor leaves, and LeVon helps Jigna back into the wheelchair to go to the car*
*arrive at car*
LeVon: that was a waste of time
Jigna: right
*next scene opens up with Jigna and LeVon arriving at the foot doctor*
Receptionist: Hi, we got the call from Dr. emergency, you must be Jigna
Jigna: yes ma’am
Receptionist: perfect, I just need you to fill out this paperwork before you leave here just give it back to me, they’re ready for you.
Doctor Know: Hi, I’m doctor Know, let’s get you some X Rays
*doctor and Jigna precedes to go to x-ray room, while LeVon precedes to go to the regular doctor room to wait on us*
Know: some of the positions will be uncomfortable and/or painful, but we’ll try to get through them as fast as possible.
Jigna: Oh no, okay
*Doctor puts Jigna in position and every position Jigna starts to tear up and cry because of the pain. It takes about 25 minutes for all the x-rays to finish and then they both head back to the room Jigna’s LeVon is in.*
Doctor: let’s have a look at these X Rays
*turns on computer and gets to the pictures*
Doctor: well it looks like you broke your ankle, it is a very clean break though so you will not need surgery, but you will be out for about 2 and a half months including rehab and everything. We’re going to get you a boot and crutches and teach you how to use the crutches. You will need to come see me in about 3 weeks again.
Jigna: *with tears coming down her face, hardly being able to talk* Are you serious?
Doctor: yes, everything will be okay, it’ll be over before you know it. On the bright side, you don’t need surgery, and this is an easy injury to come back from, and you’re only a freshman. Everything will be okay, I promise.
*Doctor puts the boot on Jigna and starts to teach her how to walk with her crutches*
Doctor: Great! You got it! Now you just need to finish filling out this paperwork and you are free to go
*Doctor leaves. Jigna starts to fill out paperwork*
Jigna: I didn’t know they asked all these questions on medical paperwork. What does my race and ethnicity have to do with my ankle?
LeVon: *laughs* more like your health
Jigna: Okay, what does it have to do with my health then?
*curtains close, act over*
Act 2: COVID Train’s First Passenger
*scene opens up with LeVon coughing while the family is watching a movie*
Yetra: Um Von, are you okay? Sound like you got the rona *laughs*
LeVon: haha, yea Yet, I think it’s just allergies
*the next day, the family is in the car going back home*
LeVon: *coughs uncontrollably*
Yetra: Is that still allergies?
LeVon: yea, I think so
Yetra: Well you need to take something.
*the next day, the family is eating dinner at home*
LeVon: I can’t taste anything
Yetra: Oh Lord!!! We need to schedule you a COVID test.
LeVon: Yea, probably.
Yetra: *while scheduling the appointment* you go tomorrow at 8 am, get all your stuff, and go to the guest room, you are not sleeping with me no more
*LeVon goes to their room to get some stuff and moves into the guest room, the next day he goes to get COVID tested and comes back home to wait on the results*
*while laying down, taking a nap, LeVon gets a call from CVS Pharmacy*
LeVon: Hello, LeVon speaking
Caller: Hello LeVon, we are calling to inform you that your test result came back positive, and you need to isolate yourself for 2 weeks until you are no longer symptomatic, or until you test negative. If you have any questions and/or concerns, do not be afraid or hesitant to reach out and call.
LeVon: Okay, thank you. Have a great day. Goodbye
Caller: goodbye
*LeVon calls Yetra*
Yetra: Hello?
LeVon: Hey, I just got my results back and they came back positive.
Yetra: dang, well how are you feeling.
LeVon: Honestly, I feel so bad. My head hurts, my throat hurts, can’t taste or smell, and don’t have an appetite.
Yetra: Well, I’ll have Jigna check on you every day.
*few days later*
*a loud boom is heard throughout the house, Jigna runs downstairs to find her LeVon laid out on the floor*
Jigna: oh my gosh!! LeVon, are you okay??
LeVon: I just fell over trying to use the bathroom
Jigna: Should we go to the emergency room?
LeVon: yea, probably. Let me get some strength and we can leave in about 10 minutes.
Jigna: okay, I’ll be waiting outside the room, call my name if you need anything
*Jigna and LeVon get in the car and head to the hospital*
*They arrive at the hospital and walk-in. Because of the covid restrictions, Jigna is only allowed to walk LeVon to the waiting room then has to wait in the car*
Jigna: *making sure LeVon is okay in the waiting room* Dang like 75% of people in here are black, that’s crazy
LeVon: yeah and the other 25% are Latino *snickers*
Jigna: wow that’s crazy, I wonder why. Well I will be in the car, let me know if you need anything, I’m just going to wait outside.
*few hours later LeVon calls Jigna*
LeVon: hey I am ready
Jigna: Okay coming
*LeVon and Jigna get into the car and starts to drive home*
Jigna: So what did they say or do
LeVon: They ran a lot of tests and everything is still looking good, they hooked me up to an IV and just told me to go home and rest and come back if it gets worst
Jigna: oh okay did they prescribe you any medication?
LeVon: Yeah, you can go pick it up tomorrow since it’s late.
Jigna: okay sounds good
*LeVon and Jigna arrive home*
Jigna: alright now, don’t be falling out trying to use the bathroom again just hold it next time until I get you a bedside portable potty
*LeVon and Jigna laugh*
*scene over and curtains close*
Act 3: The Next Stop
*scene opens up with Yetra in her room and Jigna in her room*
*Jigna gets a text from Yetra*
Jigna: *reads message out loud* Your LeVon gave me corona… Oh my gosh, not again *hits head*
Jigna: *facetime ring* hey
Yetra: hey
Jigna: how are you feeling?
Yetra: Not good. My throat and body hurt really bad, and I have a really bad cough. I also feel very tired, but I am not sure if that is because I am just not eating.
Jigna: Would you like me to go get you something to try and eat on?
Yetra: Yes, please.
Jigna: What do you want?
Yetra: I will take a kids meal from Zaxbys and a small strawberry banana smoothie.
Jigna: Okay, I will be right back.
Yetra: Okay.
Jigna: I am going to tell Bria to make sure she is alert while I am gone, so call her if you need anything while I am not here.
Yetra: Okay, thanks.
*Jigna walks to Bria’s room*
Jigna: hey, Yetra said she has corona, so be careful and make sure you check on her every now and then.
Bria: dang okay, where are you about to go?
Jigna: I am about to go grab her something to try and eat from Zaxbys. Text me if you want anything to eat, I can get it for you while I am out.
Bria: Okay I will text you. Thanks
*Jigna leaves for a while and then comes back*
Jigna: *yells* Bria, I’m home!
*Jigna enters mother’s room and gives her the food*
Jigna: I’ll be upstairs if you need anything, goodnight.
Yetra: Okay, goodnight and thank you again.
Jigna: Of course girl
*Jigna walks upstairs*
Jigna: *gets a text from Yetra saying “come here please’* *walks downstairs to Yetra’s room*
Yetra: I think I need to go to the emergency room
Jigna: Oh my gosh Yetra, what happened to your face.
Yetra: I passed out trying to use the bathroom and hit my head really hard on the bathtub and floor
Jigna: You got all that from passing out? Yea, let’s go.
*Jigna helps Yetra clean her face off and they head to the car to go to the hospital*
*They arrive at the hospital*
Yetra: Go ahead and go back home, I will probably be here for a while. I will call you when I am ready to be picked up.
Jigna: Okay, I’ll be up
*Jigna is in her room and gets a phone call*
Jigna: hey, you ready?
Yetra: yeah, I am ready
*Jigna heads over to the hospital and Yetra gets in the car*
Jigna: So, what did they say?
Yetra: They didn’t really say anything, just told me to go home and rest and if it gets worse then to come back.
Jigna: Did they prescribe you any meds to take?
Yetra: No, I don’t know why not
Jigna: That’s weird because they told LeVondy what meds to take. Why wouldn’t they tell you the same and you got it worse than him?
Yetra: I’m not sure, maybe because women get treated a little differently
Jigna: Well that’s stupid. I am going to call tomorrow and try and get what you can take for this
*act over, curtains close*
Act 4: Train’s Deadly Crash
*scene opens up with family sitting in the living room watching tv*
Yetra: I have something to tell you guys
Jigna: What’s up?
Yetra: Your aunt Loretta has passed and we have to fly to Oklahoma for the funeral next weekend
Bria: WHAT?? WHAT HAPPENED
Yetra: Corona got her.
Jigna: Dang, this corona stuff is getting out of hand
LeVon: I agree Indy
*next weekend comes around and the family is getting on a plane to head to Oklahoma*
*plane lands in Oklahoma*
*family drives to grandmother’s house to greet and see all the family*
*chatters and family talking*
*kids are all talking when uncle bobo approaches*
Uncle: Hey kids
Kids: Hey Uncle Bobo
Uncle: I know yall think I’m crazy but yall be careful down here and try to get out of Oklahoma if yall can. I want the best for all of you guys, but it ain’t here
Kids: Okay Uncle Bobo
*Uncle leaves*
Cousin 1: He’s so weird
Cousin 2: I know right, like what is he talking about
*all kids laugh*
*Family and friends start to leave so the crowd becomes less people*
*Jigna walks over to Uncle bobo very curious*
Jigna: Hey Unc
Bobo: Hey boo, what’s up?
Jigna: I was curious about what you said earlier to us, what were you talking about?
Bobo: So you know how your aunt died from corona right?
Jigna: yeah?
Bobo: Well I blame the doctors for her death
Jigna: really? Why?
Bobo: She was in intensive care because she had an underlying health issue as well as corona, but the doctors found it more fitting if an older white man took her room in intensive care, so they “stabilized” her and more her in a regular room and not even four hours later she died
Jigna: oh my gosh, that’s terrible. Is that why you said to get out of Oklahoma?
Bobo: Yes! There is so much racism here it is crazy. Yall have to get to places more civilized so that not only does it not happen to you in the medical room, but in real life too.
Jigna: Yeah, I hear you. Both my parents had corona and had some difficulties in the medical room, but not as bad as this.
Bobo: Yea, it seems like the more nondiverse your town is, the harder it is to get equality in the medical field, but that’s just an assumption.
Jigna: Yea, that would be a good question to research
Bobo: What would?
Jigna: If demographic locations play a role in how minorities are seen in the medical rooms.
*act over, curtains close*
Act 5: What Color is the Train
*scene opens up with Jigna and LeVon chilling on the couch*
Jigna: Uncle Bobo told me what happened with auntie and that is so crazy
LeVon: Of course Bobo told you, but yeah that is crazy.
Jigna: I feel like I’ve been around this corona stuff so much since it started
LeVon: yeah, me too. It’s crazy because my coworker has it.
Jigna: Really?
LeVon: Yeah
Jigna: Is he black or white?
LeVon: White, why?
Jigna: Just wondering. I feel like all the black people have worse experiences with corona, but that’s also all I have been around
LeVon: I feel like that is an accurate statement
Jigna: How was your coworker’s experience?
LeVon: He said his experience was really good. When I told him about our experiences, he was shocked and said he didn’t experience anything like that. He also had an underlying condition, he had diabetes so they were really careful making sure he was okay.
Jigna: Well that proves that there are some disparities when dealing with minorities health
LeVon: True
Jigna: There has to be a way to fix that or at least start to fix it
*act over, curtains close*
Act 6: The Questions
*scene starts off with Jigna getting ready for school*
*brushes teeth, does her hair, puts clothes on all while background music is playing*
*she gets in the car, turns it on, and heads to school*
*on the way to school, she is singing to music the whole ride, then finally arrives at school*
*She arrives in her first class Medical Humanities*
Professor: Good Morning class! We have a lot to get through today and I have to tell you about your final project at the end of class today, it will be due in about a month so you have plenty of time to work on it. Today we have a guest speaker here to talk to you guys about the pandemic.
Guest: Hi guys. *guest continues to talk about the pandemic but Jigna is zoned out so what was a 30-minute talk is really a five-minute talk*
Professor: thank you for coming to speak to us today, okay class now let’s talk about your projects. For your projects, I would like you guys to come up with a research question that inspires you and is of interest to you and research that question and present what you find to the class. It can be anything, serious or not, be creative with your research questions. You will be presenting your question/ questions to the class in about a month so start working on it now.
*bell rings*
Professor: okay well class is over, I will see you guys next week, have a great weekend!
*Jigna gets in car and drives home*
*scene closes with Jigna pondering what she’s going to talk about for the final project, she’s in her room at her desk thinking*
Jigna: *while thinking* I think I’m going to talk about how *starts writing* race influences the medical field and health of individuals
Act 7: The Answers
*One month later*
*Jigna walks in class*
Professor: Jigna you’re first up today. You ready?
Jigna: yes ma’am
*Jigna walks to the front of the class*
*Jigna’s monologue begins*
Jigna: Hello class, today I will present how race, particularly being a minor ethnicity, specifically African Americans affects a person when receiving medical attention and in the medical field. Throughout my life, I have been through many things, especially since COVID that has sparked my interest and these questions that I have been longing for an answer for. This project gave me a pathway to be able to explore and research these questions. There are five questions I researched to talk about my topic.
- What do my race and ethnicity have to do with my health?
- Why do you normally see way more minority groups in emergency rooms?
- Are men of minority groups or women of minority groups more like to see systematic racism when receiving medical attention?
- Do you think the demographics/location play a part in how minority groups are viewed in medical rooms?
- How can racial disparities be reduced in healthcare?
Obviously, I am not going to stand up here and bore you because each question could be talked about for way longer than just a class presentation, but I’m just going to provide the research I thought was most efficient, relevant, and interesting…
Question 1: What does race and ethnicity have to do with my health?
Race and ethnicity have a lot to do with someone’s health. There is actually an accurate reason they ask for your race and ethnicity on medical records. The reason is that some races, because of health disparities, are prone to have some diseases more than other races. So, the doctors ask this to know what they can possibly be dealing with and possibly have to look for and diagnose. In my research, there are seven common health concerns that African Americans tend to suffer and often die from more than other races. These health concerns include heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, diabetes, stroke, peripheral artery disease, and sickle cell disease(CentraState Health). In the research and data, the numbers are starting to rise for younger African Americans to develop one of these health concerns at a younger age. Usually, doctors saw this trend in older African American people, but since the numbers are rising for younger people, the disparity is becoming more evident. The question of race and ethnicity on a paper should not scare or frighten you. The reason doctors are asking is to help, not to use the data against you. They collect data from patients to more clearly see the disparities and where they occur in the medical concerns to address and try to fix them as best as possible. The only way they would know to test African Americans on certain diseases like sickle cell disease is if they know black people are more prone to get it. Without this information, they may never know who to test, which could cause some suffering. The bottom line is by knowing someone’s race, tells a lot about their health. African Americans have a lower life expectancy than white people in the same area as them, African American babies are more likely to die in the first two years than white babies, and African Americans are more likely to see systematic racism in the medical rooms, by knowing these facts and so much more, doctors can use it to help instead of hurt.
Question 2: Why do you normally see way more minority groups in emergency rooms?
When you go into an emergency room, you tend to see more people of color than whites and you may wonder why. This can have a lot to do with location as well as systematic racism. There have been many studies that show that you tend to see more black people in medical rooms because of three reasons.
- Black people tend to suffer from more health diseases than other races which brings them to medical rooms
- Black people tend to go to the same hospitals as other black people to feel protected and trusted which leads to more black people in a medical room than other races,
- There have been a few studies that have tested and found that if a white person and black person come in at the same time with the same disease the white one is more favorable of getting treatment the fastest and most accurate. This leaves the African Americans waiting more and maybe having to come back more often for not getting the same accurate treatment.
So, when someone walks into an emergency room to see many minorities, they can think of either of these three reasons to explain why.
Question 3: Are men of minority groups or women of minority groups more like to see systematic racism when receiving medical attention?
This is a very tricky question and could be talked about forever. Women specifically are already seen in the world without being a minority as lesser than and often struggle more than men. When you add being a minority and having a greater chance of not surviving through certain things, and a higher risk for health concerns it could get much worse. Women go through so much more than men physically with their health already, especially birth. Black women are so much more likely to die giving birth, while the kids they give birth to are also more likely to not make it more than two years. Gender bias is very evident in the medical field. Gender bias explains how people are assessed, diagnosed, and treated differently and at a lower quality level because of their gender than others with the same complaints(Fierce Healthcare). In the story I told about my mom contracting corona and having to go to the medical room, we saw a sneak peek into how that works. There are three evident bias where women are not taken as serious according to fierce healthcare and that is cardiovascular disease, mental health, and pain management. Black women are also less likely to be married and/or in a relationship which also plays a role in their health. There are many single black moms or just single black women who cannot afford the health insurance or things they need for their health because they are by themselves. It has been shown that kids (girls and boys) are less likely to experience gender bias than older adults though. According to Praderia, there are 16 health problems women have to be on the lookout for because it affects females more than men. Sixteen is a lot. Some of these include breast cancer, osteoporosis, stroke, UTI’s, anxiety, depression, etc… There is definitely a greater disparity when dealing with women that are African Americans, and being a black woman, and seeing it happen in front of my face, that is very alarming and sometimes scary.
Question 4: Do the demographics/location play a part in how minority groups are viewed in medical rooms?
Demographics and the location of medical rooms and patients do play a role in how minority groups are viewed in medical rooms. While the world is becoming more aware and diverse, there will always be systematic racism that no one can control, and it will always be worse in some areas than others. There are ways and indicators to acknowledge when we see locations taking a toll on minorities needing medical care. These include:
- Gaps in Access: There are many gaps in access in some locations. Locations that do not have doctors or medical assistance close tend to see struggles in this issue. There is also less access to resources and medicine for black people. The less access, the more black people that can’t maintain good health because they already struggle as it is.
- Quality and Affordability of medical care: There are some locations where there are black communities and minority communities that are poorer than the average neighborhood. In these areas there tends to be less quality of medical and care, but prices go up. These people cannot afford even the bare minimum for medical care which causes demographics to play a part in how minorities do not have a fair chance at health care.
- Unequal treatment: There are a lot of areas that are just flat out racists. In the example of Oklahoma, it happened to be a predominantly white area. When you have areas that promote white supremacy, it often leads into everything, including medical rooms.
- Cultural and religious differences: There are locations where a certain religion or culture is socially acceptable. Minorities tend to not “fit” the requirement or be in this religion or culture, and it can be looked at as not worthy.
- Stereotyping by providers & patient behavior: Black people tend to rather not get vaccines and things of that sort because they feel like it could affect them differently. Doctors knowing this information tend to stereotype every black person in the “bad attitude” category and not want to be as helpful as they could be in some areas.
These five reasons can explain why the location of a patient can affect how they are helped and seen in a medical room.
Question 5: How can racial disparities be reduced in healthcare?
The last and final question. The answer. What can we do? How do we fix it? To start off the three things a person can always do to try and address health disparities are recognize, educate, and conduct. Everything you can do to help a health disparity requires these three things on some line. Some things we can do to reduce health disparities are…(KFF)
All information below is from KFF:
- Raising public and provider awareness of racial/ethnic disparities in care: Perceptions of a problem often influence the actions taken to change policy and practices. If the public or providers are unaware that a problem exists, or misunderstands the nature of the problem, it can be difficult to direct resources to address that problem. Efforts to raise the public’s awareness of racial/ethnic health care disparities have achieved modest success. “In 2006, nearly 6 in 10 people surveyed believed African Americans received the same quality of care as Whites, and 5 in 10 believed Latinos received the same quality care as Whites.” So this deals with the education piece, we have to educate and raise awareness that there are health disparities which shouldn’t be hard because we have the data to back it up(KFF).
- Expanding health insurance coverage: Health insurance is an important role in determining whether and when people get necessary medical care, where they receive care, and how healthy people are. However, minority populations are not accurately represented among those without any health coverage. Compared with the insured, the uninsured are less likely to have a regular doctor or to get timely and routine care, and are more likely to be hospitalized for preventable conditions. Black people are less likely to have health insurance offered through their jobs, and African Americans are more likely than Whites to be uninsured. Medicaid, a source of coverage for many of the nation’s poor and disabled, is an important safety net for some nonelderly African Americans. Efforts like this are needed to assure that existing sources of coverage are maintained while also working to expand other sources of coverage for those who are uninsured(KFF).
- Improving the capacity and number of providers in underserved communities: Regarding efforts to increase the number of health professionals, members of minority groups are still underrepresented in the health care workforce and are more likely than Whites to live in neighborhoods that lack adequate health resources. African Americans are also twice as likely as Whites to rely upon a hospital outpatient department as their regular source of care, rather than a doctor’s office. This is a result of higher rates of uninsured and the limited availability of primary care physicians in some communities of color. “Approaches to strengthening communication and relationships between patients and providers include greater use of medical interpretation services, expanding the racial/ethnic diversity of the health professions workforce, and developing provider training programs and tools in cross-cultural education.”(KFF) So, a more diverse health workforce could help to improve access and adherence to treatment.
- Increasing the knowledge base on causes and interventions to reduce disparities: Evidence of racial health care disparities is significant, the evidence for developing interventions to eliminate these disparities remains limited. “For example, efforts are currently underway to examine how training health care providers to offer culturally and linguistically appropriate services, increasing the use of electronic medical records to decrease medical errors and improve coordination of care, and increasing the use of financial incentives to promote high-quality health care may reduce racial and ethnic health disparities.” There’s a growing effort to address factors outside the health care system, such as socioeconomic status, education, and geography, which have been shown to impact health status and access to health care. Increasing the knowledge of professionals will require investing in routinely collecting and analyzing data on health care use across racial groups(KFF).
Jigna: And that concludes my presentation, thank you.
*Jigna walks back to her seat and the curtains close*
THE END
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