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Introduction
Equity is fair, it is equal, it is unbiased in its work, and it is given freely to everyone,
unless you are of a racial, ethnic, or minority group in America. There are entire populations in
America that are affected by a lack of education provided to healthcare providers regarding
health disparities. Everyone knows that disparities exist, but living in a world where they do not
affect you is not an option when you put on the hat to provide quality, unbiased care to those
most vulnerable to poor outcomes.
During the last 20 years, the evidence of health disparities has grown exponentially as
well as funding to support innovations at the community level. Yet, progress on
eliminating disparities seems somewhat slow, perhaps due to the lack of intentional and
strategic systemic approaches and indeed the complexity of the problem. (Suarez-
Balcazar et al., 2020, p. 2)
The lack of education regarding healthcare disparities has contributed to negative
healthcare outcomes for racial, ethnic, and minority groups. This substantial impact on care
provided to people of minority groups including low-income, less educated, and socially
disadvantaged groups must be addressed to reform the healthcare system to limit life-impacting
disparities.
What is Normal May be Dangerous
A lack of education regarding healthcare disparities has contributed to negative healthcare
outcomes. Education drives health, success, and abilities. The list of how education can help a
person is endless. If we reverse this, and turn this statement on healthcare providers, why should
we not achieve the same outcomes regarding healthcare for minority patients?
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In the past decade, there has been growing interest in understanding and addressing
disparities in health and outcomes that persist among various population subgroups.
Addressing health disparities is of increasing importance nationally and globally.
(Dankwa-Mullen et al, 2021)
Common features that providers rely on are a patient's ability to discuss the problems they are
facing, the ability to reach out when they have new concerns, and the ability to navigate online
portals to see messages and ask questions. But there are patients out there that who are not able
to do these things, so relying on what is “normal” or expected is dangerous.
Health IT Can be a Good Thing
Health Information Technology or Health IT is not always negative. Up to date, modern
technology can be an amazing tool to address the healthcare needs of patients. We discussed the
negative outcomes regarding health outcomes when relying on the tools that are typically
utilized. Now we will discuss how these tools, when used appropriately, can help. Advances in
technology do hold a benefit for providers. For example, accessing notes from other healthcare
providers, accessing lab work run by other providers, and allowing the patient to participate in
decision-making processes can enhance patient outcomes. It also alleviates patients repeating
tests, costing facilities and patients patient’s unnecessary money.
It also should be noted that having patients participate in decision-making promotes
adherence to health plans, because they get to provide insight on what practices they are more
likely to utilize. “Health IT (Information Technology) innovations can give care providers more
detailed information about their patients, enabling more precise, targeted treatment regimens”
(Zhang et al., 2019, p.2). Data collected from these targeted treatment regimens and treatments
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that work for vulnerable populations can change the future of medicine for more people in the
future. Address Disparities in the Facility
Addressing health disparities experienced by minority populations starts by self-
reflection, and assessing whether there are biases in your everyday practices. Health disparities
can be unintentionally made worse by unintentional biases. Start with self-reflection and see if
there are ways you are limiting someone else's care by your own biases.
Advancing health equity requires both science and art; evidence-based roadmaps and
stories that guide the journey to better outcomes, judgment that informs how to change
the behavior of patients, providers, communities, organizations, and policymakers, and
passion and a moral mission to serve humanity. (Chin, 2021, p.1)
Limiting biases in your facility can decrease health disparities. It is important to ensure
all staff are culturally competent, unbiased in their practices, and respectful of diverse
populations. This can help patients feel confident and comfortable being honest and promote
adherence by building a foundation of trust. Better outcomes can come from better training from
all staff in a clinic. Changing old behaviors and attitudes can change lives.
Faculty development and training are necessary for nursing education programs to
commit to an antiracist pedagogy. Studies have indicated that nurse educators feel
unprepared to support antiracist education as they feel uncomfortable addressing concepts
of racism, oppression, dominance, and white power. (Ochs, 2023, p. 2)
A Call for Change
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Healthcare disparities unfortunately will always exist. However, we have a chance to learn
from the past, and change the future, for the better for everyone that who is at risk of
experiencing poor outcomes due to poor training. Understanding, training, becoming
uncomfortable for the sake of growth, relying on science, relying on Biblical factors, all these
things can provide better outcomes for patients and facilities. We have a duty to must change the
future, because we are aware of the limitations being experienced right now. “Therefore
welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God” (English Standard
Version, Romans 15:7). Welcome your neighbors, your patients, welcome all the people you do
not know, welcome them because this is what God does. He did not come for the righteous, but
He did come for those in need of a physician.
References:
Chin, M. H. (2021). New Horizons—Addressing Healthcare Disparities in Endocrine Disease:
Bias, Science, and Patient Care. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.,
106(12), e4887–e4902. https://doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgab229
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Dankwa-Mullan, I., Perez-Stable, E. J., Gardner, K., Zhang, X., & Rosario, A. M. (Eds.). (2021).
The science of health disparities research. John Wiley & Sons.
English Standard Version Bible, (2011). Crossway Books.
Ochs, J. H. (2023). Addressing health disparities by addressing structural racism and implicit
bias in nursing education. Nurse Education Today., 121.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2022.105670
Suarez-Balcazar, Y., Francisco, V.T. and Rubén Chávez, N. (2020), Applying Community-
Based Participatory Approaches to Addressing Health Disparities and Promoting Health
Equity. Am J Community Psychol, 66: 217-221. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12487
Zhang, X., Hailu, B., Tabor, D. C., Gold, R., Sayre, M. H., Sim, I., Jean-Francois, B., Casnoff, C.
A., Cullen, T., Thomas, V. A., Artiles, L., Williams, K., Le, P.-T., Aklin, C. F., & James,
R. (2019). Role of Health Information Technology in Addressing Health Disparities.
Medical Care., 57(Suppl 2), S115–S120.
https://doi.org/10.1097/MLR.0000000000001092
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