Black History Month: Racism in Healthcare

There are a number of valuable messages encrypted within the memories shared throughout every black history month. A notable and arguably the most significant message is the power of unity. It is important that we acknowledge that racism is and will continue to be prevalent unless we work together and perfect our sense of unity with one another. In doing this we must remember to not lose ourselves in the reality of our biased society, and instead gather the tools needed to navigate through it to try and diminish its flaws - especially within the healthcare system. Racism in healthcare has been shown to have a detrimental impact on the health outcomes of marginalized communities, and it is our responsibility as providers to work towards dismantling these systems of oppression. 

The truth is, implicit bias is a natural part of the human experience. Bias stems from our brain subconsciously categorizing our surroundings to better understand people, things, and places. This normal function becomes harmful when we act on these ‘categories’ based on stereotypes; which ultimately limits our ability to treat others fairly. It can be beneficial for healthcare providers to take the time to understand their own unconscious biases and learn about the cultural backgrounds of their patients. This includes understanding how a patient's race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status can affect their health outcomes. By incorporating mandatory courses on cultural competency and diversity throughout the career of healthcare providers; there should be an increase in self awareness of unconscious bias, which will serve as the first step towards providing more equitable and inclusive patient care. 

To implement change, healthcare providers must reflect on their biases to acknowledge the potential effects they may have on patient treatment. Cultural humility is a useful attitude that can aid in addressing racial issues in healthcare. Cultural humility is a lifelong self-reflection process that enables an individual to comprehend the various systems that shape the lives of others, such as worldview, behavior, or relationships. It is crucial for healthcare practitioners to exercise cultural humility as it enables the provider to be willing to learn and be conscious of their attitudes and behavior towards each patient. Beyond patient care, there should be policies and procedures put into place to promote equity and inclusivity within the healthcare setting.  This includes providing accessible resources such as language assistance and interpretation services, to mitigate differences between healthcare professionals and patients. The opportunity for increased diversity within the field, ensuring that the healthcare team reflects the diverse population it serves. The addition of programs that give marginalized communities a chance of getting a higher education to diversify medicine. 

It is important to have a variety of people from different backgrounds collaborating and making decisions, to ensure all populations within the community are heard and their specific needs met.  Taking these steps to understand our patient on the personal level, but also implementing policies on the institutional level to better care for our patients, creates a healthcare system that is truly inclusive and equitable for all. These policies are not limited to patients, but also the staff. We need to work towards implementing policies that will continue to foster a working environment for staff to feel valued and supported, no matter their race, gender, socioeconomic status, religion and other factors that we have used to divide our population. The main goal of the healthcare system should be ensuring that a safe and inclusive environment is created for both patients and staff. We need to continue to measure our progress through continuous quality improvement initiatives, such as retrieving patient outcomes, satisfaction data, and monitoring the effectiveness of policies that address racism. 

This is not a one-and-done, monthly effort. This should be a year round, for all the years to come initiative, enhancing the voices of those often silenced. Moving forward and implementing change can only happen if we all come together; community organizations, policymakers and all those affected by racism within healthcare. By working together, we can create sustainable change and promote health equity for marginalized communities. The issue of racism within healthcare is complex and requires institutional remodeling, to better highlight the voices that were not always valued. Providing education to all healthcare professionals, implementing new policies, and collaborating with the community to learn how to address their needs, are all substantial ways that we can continue to foster an inclusive environment within healthcare.