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