In the United States, African Americans still meet some challenges related to care and treatment. Firstly, bias and racism may affect their health outcomes negatively. It is even possible to notice that whites have better chances of being treated for myocardial infarction than Afro-Americans, which is one of many instances (Healthcare Triage, 2019). This racial group is also likely to have different health outcomes in comparison to other groups. Studies prove that white patients are more medically cooperative than African American ones, which may lead to different treatment recommendations (Healthcare Triage, 2019). Moreover, this racial group does not have equal care in comparison to the white people and is treated with less respect. In addition, it is possible to state that health care staff is worse at diagnosing minority patients, as it is difficult for professionals to read African Americans’ signals, which leads to lower quality of care provided. The treatment process is also complicated by language and cultural barriers.
As a result, there is general mistrust by Black Americans in the medical system. History knows situations when minority patients were involuntarily involved in experiments, such as Tuskegee, where black men with latent syphilis served as the control group (Healthcare Triage, 2019); (LarryStephenRobb, 2011). The conceived conspiracy of genocide negatively influenced the trust of Black people in the medical system overall.
It is possible to outline best practices for treating Black Americans, taking into consideration the spread of syphilis among them. It is advisable not to speculate the notion that minority patients are usually sick of HV, as it leads to misdiagnosing and inappropriate treatment. In addition, as Black people’s bodies are inferior within the medical sphere, they are considered to be susceptible to particular diseases (LarryStephenRobb, 2011). This phenomenon causes the necessity to manage preexisting conditions with timely care.
Simultaneously, the mentioned above healthcare disparities can be addressed by recognizing racism in the health care system and taking measures to eradicate any potential inequities (Alcindor et al., 2021). The desired improvement in the high-quality treatment for minority patients.
References
Alcindor, Y., Rachel, W., & Lioyd, B. (2021). With a history of abuse in American medicine: Black patients struggle for equal access [Video].
Healthcare Triage. (2019). Racial disparities in healthcare are pervasive [Video]. YouTube.
LarryStephenRobb. (2011). African Americans’ distrust in the health care system: Past and present [Video]. YouTube.