We have heard and recognized multiple times about the effect of structured racism in
healthcare that denies access and availability of treatments to people from certain races or
people whose socio-economic status is low. Insurance companies and healthcare providers
use algorithms to determine who gets access to what treatments based on their ability to
pay and other factors. This was originally intended to provide equity. However,
researchers found that the algorithm often underestimates the health needs of the African
American patients for chronic health conditions Castillo, 2019). The case that you have
mentioned in your post brings an unique perspective from the point of view of an
healthcare employee who was discriminated and prevented in providing service that she
was qualified for. I do not agree with your determination that the patient’s father has the
right to request change of provider if he paid for it. He has choice to go to another hospital
but cannot demand that the provider be changed even if he paid for those services.
I would like to add another interesting study-based evidence that was published in 2019. It
confirmed that African Americans, Native Americans and Native Hawaiians and other
Pacific Islanders have worse health than that of whites due to lack of equity in health care
access. What was interesting to note was the observation about Asians and Hispanics. The
health profiles of the Asians and Hispanics are influenced by the high proportion of
immigrants here. They tend to have lower mortality rates than their native-born races. But
this health advantage declines with increasing length of stay in the U.S (Williams &
Cooper, 2019). This is alarming to note. The study went on to suggest that comprehensive
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efforts are needed to create and maintain opportunities for health improvement, and
greater emphasis on prevention (Williams & Cooper, 2019).
References
Castillo, B. (2019). What algorithm tell us about structural racism in health care. National
Nurses United.
Response
The post elaborates how racism, discrimination, and ethnicity is essential when
developing a culture of health. It has captured how structured racism can impede available
treatments while denying access to individual races or people of lower social, economic
backgrounds. It researches thoroughly on a public health case related to discrimination and
racism as it highlights the plight of an employee who was discriminated against based on race
and thus prevented from providing the necessary healthcare she is paid to do based on the color
of her skin. The post addresses how leadership could have handled the situation. It also explains
that the patient’s guardian has no right to demand a change in practitioner based on race. If I were
a leader in this community, I would find out the exact reason for the need for a change of the
healthcare giver. If this is based on racial discrimination, the change would not be made. The
guardian would be advised accordingly on the way forward in addition to suggestions of seeking
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medication elsewhere (Williams & Cooper, 2019) . I agree with my peer’s assessments of the
example situations as they are precise and address the core of the question.
References
Williams, D., & Cooper, L. (2019). Reducing racial inequalities in health: Using what we already
know to take action. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public
Health, 16, 4.