Racial and ethnic disparities affect the provision of quality healthcare in managing chronic conditions for minorities. These disparities are mainly caused by implicit biases by providers, social stratification, financial burdens, and the lack of clinical preventative services that make it difficult for minorities to receive the best possible care in health institutions. As a result, minorities suffering from chronic conditions are prone to poor health outcomes.
Racial disparities involve the issues of treatment imbalances of people based on their skin color, while ethnic disparities refer to different handling of people based on specific shared cultural values. In such cases, access-related factors such as the patient’s preferences and clinical needs do not pose a significant challenge to their treatment (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2017). However, other factors such as geography, stereotypes, communication barriers, and lack of access to healthcare providers pose a significant challenge when treating minorities (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2017). Consequently, these challenges lead to health inequities between minorities and non-minorities, causing adverse health outcomes. With cardiovascular disease and cancer being the leading causes of death in America, the inequities brought about by race and ethnicity affect the provision of quality healthcare in managing these chronic conditions. Consequently, minorities suffer extreme effects of chronic illnesses due to the inequality faced in service provision when seeking medical assistance in predominantly white countries.
Health care providers possess implicit biases when dealing with patients from minority groups leading to a higher possibility of lower quality services. Wheeler and Bryant (2017) state that health providers are predisposed to bias in providing services and that they are, hence, more likely to discriminate against minorities. In this case, racial and ethnic disparities are experienced across the various healthcare levels in the sector. These levels include the patient, the healthcare provider, and the overall health system, each with the individual factors that affect the outcomes. Racial and ethnic biases in healthcare providers lead to longer wait times, poor reception, and lower quality of care among minorities seeking services in such institutions. Apart from that, systemic biases in the health sector make it difficult for minority groups to receive quality care since some people are treated better than others. For instance, hospitals that may require a cash deposit to admit patients to receive treatment may make it difficult for disadvantaged groups to access health care (Wheeler & Bryant, 2017). The presence of such unrecognized instances of discrimination in the interactions with people from minority races ultimately leads to the prevalence of racial and ethnic disparities.
Additionally, health care providers in the local native populations of a country tend to give preferential treatment to individuals perceived to be from the same community. Such perceptions lead to an increase in cases of discrimination against people seen to be from other countries or regions. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2017) states that “unconscious racialized perceptions contribute to differences in how various individual actors, including health care providers, perceive others and treat them” (p. 109). Negative perceptions of minority groups from foreign countries lead to stereotypes and racial profiling, suggesting that these groups may perform poorly in treatments or behave differently. These unfair variances lead to unjust and avoidable health outcomes for members of such populations. As a result, minority groups are evaluated differently when visiting health institutions. Therefore, with minority populations increasing across America, an increase in the aforementioned disparities poses a great danger to the well-being of these communities.
Furthermore, chronic conditions continually affect a significant portion of minority populations. The persistent nature of such conditions poses a considerable challenge to the patients in terms of financial and social impacts. While the occurrences of chronic conditions appear to affect all races, minority groups tend to feel the burden imposed by the rigorous treatments required to manage them. Therefore, the effects of such chronic conditions on the well-being of disadvantaged populations result in poor health outcomes. Quiñones et al. (2019) state that “black middle-aged adults had significantly higher initial levels of chronic disease burden compared with white counterparts” (p. 9). More so, social challenges such as unemployment and overpopulation as a result of forms of segregation in minorities, affect the quality of healthcare. Therefore, health provision in such areas is significantly incapable of dealing with the management of chronic conditions. As a result, minorities receive lower-quality care, leading to higher mortality rates in their population. Minorities, thus, face negative financial and social challenges due to racial and ethnic disparities, leading to poor health outcomes.
Apart from these, the lack of clinical preventative services further aggravates the ability of minority groups to receive quality care. Access to frequent checkups and vaccinations form a critical part of identifying and preventing any chronic illness from spreading. For instance, continuous cancer screening can identify potential lumps that may pose a risk to the patient, thus enabling early interventions to prevent its development. Additionally, vaccinations for specific forms of cancer can significantly reduce the chances of its development. Quiñones et al. (2019) highlight that “poor access to good quality health care and low socioeconomic status may exacerbate and accelerate additional chronic disease development” (p. 9). However, access to these services is nearly impossible due to cost implications and access to health facilities that offer them. This finding shows that access to good health services, including preventative care, forms an essential part of the recovery process. However, when individuals lack basic access to quality care, pre-existing conditions become more challenging to manage. As a result, manageable conditions worsen to a point where treatment becomes challenging due to the extensive damage to the patient.
Consequently, racial and ethnic disparities are a significant factor affecting the ability of minorities to receive quality healthcare in managing their chronic conditions. These disparities are mainly caused by implicit biases in providers, social stratification, financial burdens, and the lack of access to clinical preventative services. With chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease and cancer identified as the leading cause of death in Americans, minorities are likely to be disadvantaged in terms of preventative and treatment perspectives. Therefore, these disparities affect the ability of minorities to manage chronic conditions in their populations. As a result, the differences in the treatment of minorities in the healthcare sector affect overall health provision. Racial and ethnic inequities have, thus, played in the deteriorating health sector despite the various efforts put in place. Chronic illnesses continue to impact the lives of minority groups, with their situation further affected by racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare provision, ultimately leading to adverse outcomes. Identifying the underlying social, political, and economic challenges that minority groups face can ensure that health services can improve, leading to lower morbidities and mortality rates among such populations.
References
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2017). Communities in action: Pathways to health equity. The National Academies Press.
Quiñones, A. R., Botoseneanu, A., Markwardt, S., Nagel, C. L., Newsom, J. T., Dorr, D. A., & Allore, H. G. (2019). Racial/ethnic differences in multimorbidity development and chronic disease accumulation for middle-aged adults. PloS One, 14(6), 1-13. Web.
Wheeler, S. M., & Bryant, A. S. (2017). Racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care. Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinics of North America, 44(1), 1-11. Web.