Disparities in Healthcare, Pt. 2.
Hello, everyone! As promised, I will be continuing my talk on healthcare disparities in this week’s blog post.
I’d like to continue this narrative by discussing another aspect of health disparities that affect ethnic and racial minority communities greatly, the language barrier. There are two parts to this issue. First of all, a physician is not omniscient, and effective communication between the patient and the doctor is crucial in ensuring that the patient’s problem is correctly diagnosed. Should the patient be misdiagnosed due to the physician not fully understanding the situation, then the language barrier could have resulted in a poorer health outcome for the patient. Secondly, even if correctly diagnosed, conveying the proper treatment to the patient can be challenging with a language barrier. The patient might misunderstand what pills they should take at a certain time, which could lead to horrifying consequences, with the worst-case scenario being death. As a result, making sure that the language barrier does not affect patient-physician communication is essential in ensuring the safety of all Americans,
The second aspect of health disparities that I’d like to mention is actually nutrition-related. Ultimately, many chronic conditions and diseases, such as diabetes, are caused by a poor diet. For some, this is simply because they choose to consume an unbalanced diet. However, many people of ethnic minorities simply don’t possess the ability to consume healthy, nutritious food on a daily basis. The community and/or area they live in could be a “food desert,” which is a term used to describe areas that have poor access to healthy and fresh food. The connection between nutritious food and better health can be clearly seen in diabetes and hypertension, two chronic and easily preventable diseases that disproportionately affect racial and ethnic minorities. By eliminating disparities in obtaining fresh, healthy food, it is possible to reduce the prevalence of chronic conditions such as obesity, which will only serve to improve health outcomes for the people of underserved communities.
The state of these health disparities can also be seen through the results of the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, between March 2020 and July 2021, Hispanic and African-American people were hospitalized at a rate 2.8 times more than non-Hispanic white people. While 2.8 doesn’t seem like a significant amount, the sheer number of hospitalized patients adds up, especially when the number of people from racial and ethnic minorities is more than double that of those who are not. The death rates from COVID-19 tell a similar story, making it clear that healthcare disparities continue to be a problem, and only a large event like the pandemic can truly bring them to the forefront of American minds.
Of course, there are also some benefits to people outside of these minorities if the healthcare disparities were closed up. A 2011 study estimated that the combined cost of healthcare due to racial and ethnic disparities for Asian Americans, African Americans, and Hispanic Americans from 2003 to 2006 was $229 billion. This can be explained by the fact that health disparities result in poorer health outcomes for people belonging to minorities, and an increased prevalence of specific diseases will mean an increase in healthcare costs as well. By eliminating disparities, healthcare costs will be brought down significantly, meaning that other useful projects could be funded, helping to improve the lives of all citizens across the United States.
Thanks for reading, everyone! As always, I have linked my sources down below, so feel free to take a look if you wish.
https://medicareadvocacy.org/medicare-info/health-care-disparities/
