Lack of Diversity in Health Care A Health Disparity

in the summer of 2013

i had the opportunity to be a part of an

internship program

that granted minority college students

exposure

to health professions that lack

diversity

this internship was a great experience

since i had the pleasure

of shadowing and learning from great

clinicians

that looked like me not only that

but we related to one another on a

different level

since we shared similar backgrounds and

similar upbringings

this opportunity was truly inspiring

because those physical therapists

helped me realize that with diligence

and determination

obtaining a doctorate degree in physical

therapy

was not unattainable

from there i learned that building

relationships

and connections with my patients was

crucial

to obtaining better outcomes and a

successful recovery

after an injury a recent surgery or

someone suffering from a neurological

condition

i especially found this to be true when

i treated patients

that were from minority groups or people

of color

often they would say to me and thank me

that they were happy to see a clinician

that looked like them

today i want to discuss how a lack of

diversity within certain healthcare

professions

is a health disparity affecting people

of color

people living in rural areas and

low-income populations

but before i get into that i want to

introduce myself

my name is dr kiana howard and i am a

licensed physical therapist

i primarily practice in outpatient

orthopedics where i treat various

diagnoses from musculoskeletal injuries

neurological conditions and people that

have undergone surgery

since i’ve been practicing i treat a

wide variety of people

from different ages races religions

people living in rural areas or people

from different socioeconomic statuses

thankfully i’ve been told by my minority

patients how they appreciate me

because they feel that their health

concerns are being properly

addressed it’s mostly known and trending

that racial minority populations are at

a higher rate

for contracting chronic health

conditions than their white counterparts

these conditions may include high blood

pressure

diabetes and cardiovascular diseases

because there is such a wide difference

between whites

and non-whites likely to contract a

chronic health condition

this is categorized as a health

disparity

a health disparity is basically health

differences between different groups of

people

some differences may include how many

people contract the disease

the severity of the disease how many

people die from it

and how many people actually have proper

access to health care to get screened

for these diseases

others may say health disparities are

linked with different factors

such as social factors economics and

environmental factors

unfortunately minority groups are more

likely to have sub-optimal care

and higher rates of poor health outcomes

than whites and some disease cases

so could the lack of diversity in

certain health care professions

also be linked to health disparities

let us turn our focus to the

demographics and look at how we are

actually being represented in certain

healthcare professions

pictured here is a graph of the united

states population

a larger portion is comprised of white

americans

at 76.3 percent followed by hispanic

latino at 18.5

and black americans at 13.4

the next image highlights physician

populations by race

similar to the u.s population graph

white americans still make up a

large portion of the medical doctors

however all minority groups except

people that identify as asian are

underrepresented in this profession

now let’s take a look at the physical

therapy profession as noted in the

previous graph white americans still

maintain a large portion of the physical

therapy population

and all minority groups except those

that identify as asian

are under-represented in physical

therapy so how do we fix this issue

how do we improve the representation of

racial ethnic minorities

in health care primarily there must be a

pipeline system

or some type of strategy in place to

ensure that disadvantaged and

underrepresented groups

are represented a lot of reasoning

behind the lack of diversity in health

care

is due to the lack of exposure of

different health care professions

to minority students for me

i was exposed to physical therapy in

latter high school

only because i had an ankle injury from

running track

but what about those students who are

not student athletes

those students whose families may not

have enough health care coverage to pay

for a physical therapy session

how will those students know about the

career or any other health care career

that is underrepresented this pipeline

model

has many levels beginning from early

childhood all the way

to the medical professional getting kids

exposed to different health care

professions

before college is important as they

think about what they want to do for a

living

the next level is the undergrad

experience which is vital for shadowing

volunteering and getting exposure into

the profession before applying to

graduate school

thereafter is the graduate admission

process which is key to having people on

these review boards advocate for people

of color

to be accepted into these programs

finally licensure preparation is also

important

this is important to ensure these

students successfully pass their

examination

and be licensed medical professionals an

example

of a successful pipeline is based on a

study

done at the ohio state university school

of medicine and the university of

california post-baccalaureate programs

these programs aim to help promising

college graduates from

disadvantaged and underrepresented

backgrounds get into and succeed in

medical school

from these efforts researchers have

found that the post-baccalar

graduates were more likely than non-post

baccalaureate graduates

to practice medicine in high poverty

communities high

latino and black communities nonetheless

research has shown

time and time again that patients from

minority groups

that are served by health care providers

that look like them

have better outcomes in another example

a study performed in oakland california

randomly

assigned black men to black and

non-black doctors to examine the demand

of preventive care from this they found

that

black males assigned to black doctors

increased their demand

for preventative care services these

services include things like getting the

flu shot

monitoring their blood pressure

monitoring their blood sugar and

monitoring their overall health

from the same study researchers also

predicted a 19

drop in the black and white male

cardiovascular mortality gap

an 8 drop in the black white male life

expectancy gap

ultimately increased racial minority

representation in health care is crucial

because diversity is associated with

positive health outcomes

these outcomes would include things like

increased access to health care for

minorities

improve patient provider communication

improve patient satisfaction

and lower morbidity and mortality rates

among minority groups

the lack of diversity in health care is

a health disparity for racial minorities

and disadvantaged groups

many health care organizations and

professional schools are addressing

these issues

but we still have a long way to go when

it comes to diversifying the system

hopefully this talk can start a

conversation and give you guys some

insight on how we need to change and

increase the need of minority health

professionals

not only to reflect the people we serve

but to positively change the trajectory

of how we treat patients and meet the

continuing needs of the overall

population

thank you

you