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Healthcare is a basic human right. We all deserve to be able to function at our best, to take care of ourselves and our families.
In an ideal world, everyone would have equitable access to universal health services.
Unfortunately, health disparities exist everywhere, in all communities. In fact, if you’re not seeing health disparities, you’re not looking.
Why should everyone care about health equity?
Addressing health equity benefits all of us. Health disparities cost the country billions of dollars on an annual basis. Every individual in our society has a role to play in addressing health disparities, and we can all do better at understanding and respecting the cultural backgrounds, values and beliefs of others.
In Episode 67, Dr. G and his guests, Hiral Patel, DC, and Karen Ayala, executive director of the DuPage County Health Department, discuss why health equity matters to everyone and how healthcare organizations can address it.
Guest
Myths vs. Facts
“Anti-racism training is critical so that healthcare providers and caregivers are not only made aware of their biases but can become allies and actively advocate for their patients.” – Both
Anti-racism training is critical, but if we stop with anti-racism, then we are missing a lot of other factors. Realizing any of your biases is an important part. We can’t look at it through one lens: it’s much broader than that.
“One can become more culturally aware.” – Fact
There is formal training you can go through to help you be more culturally aware. Also, immersion in different populations and culture can help you understand the nuances in different cultures and how they approach healthcare.
“A general lack of access to quality care or nutritional foods, educational limitations, subpar living conditions, and simple bias in the medical profession toward specific groups and populations can give rise to health disparities.” – Fact
The biggest thing we can do is address the root cause of social determinants of health. These are all examples of social determinants of health that can affect someone’s overall well-being, which creates a disparity.
“Believing the experiences, pains and concerns of marginalized communities is essential for medical myths to change.” – Fact
We need to become more aware of different beliefs, and realize it is multi-dimensional (religious, cultural, etc.). We should make sure that we listen to and value the feedback we get from patients. This is a foundational part of beginning to heal some of the long-standing trust issues.
“Health disparities are unfair and could be reduced by the right mix of government policies.” – Fact
It takes more than government, but government has to be a key stakeholder.
“Healthcare practitioners have no role in eliminating racial and ethnic healthcare disparities.” – Myth
Healthcare practitioners play a big role in eliminating disparities. For example, we know that Black moms in this country are at higher risk for maternal death than any other population. Healthcare practitioners can give patients extra care and understanding so they are staying on top of prevention.
Listener healthy OH-YEAH!
“Stay healthy.” – J.G.
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