Racial Disparities in Healthcare

Did you know that minority groups face worser outcomes when it comes to treatment in healthcare? If you are not a minority, you may find that hard to believe; maybe even shocking. For minorities, this is unfortunately a common occurrence. What is even more scary is that if you are Black, Native American or Hispanic, you have a greater mortality rate compared to the White population. These are not lies folks, it is the facts.

If that is not already depressing enough, if you are Black, you face the risk of receiving poorer quality of care and even a delay in treatment compared to any other racial group. Adding to that, the mortality is higher. Black men face the worse healthcare outcomes than any major demographic group. So why am I discussing this on my blog? Because this happened again recently to one of my family members (this time with my older sister) and I want to help spread awareness. The experience I am about to share is both upsetting and depressing.

Two weeks ago, my older sister went to Urgent Care because she was having severe abdominal swelling, vomiting and was in a lot of pain. Her condition got so bad that she ended up fainting and was taken to the ER. After waiting for some time, she was finally placed into a room. After running a few labs, my sister was told there was nothing wrong with her. To make matters worse, the medical staff told my mother and sister that her condition was all in her head and mental because she suffers with depression, anxiety and has Tourette’s Syndrome.

When my mother and sister told me that, I immediately called to speak to her nurse because that was not going to fly with me. My sister is actively swelling, vomiting and is in so much pain that you cannot even touch her. She even fainted in Urgent Care and you want to tell me, us that this is all in her head? Ridiculous! I told both her nurse and her doctor that such a diagnosis is completely unacceptable and that everything and I mean everything needs to be checked. There is no mental condition I know of that can make a person actively swell, vomit and faint because of the intense pain.

After pushing back, standing my ground and advocating for better care, a proper diagnosis was finally given and my sister was successfully treated and released. As infuriating as this experience sounds, it is not shocking nor is this an uncommon occurrence. This happens often, way too often and sadly many lives have been lost. Why? Because when minorities try to seek help, their complaints and symptoms are often dismissed or ignored.

It is extremely important that minority patients have family and friends who are not afraid to speak up for them and to be their voice when they are not able to speak for themselves. We should not have to fight so hard to receive equal and proper care, but due to racism and stereotypes, we unfortunately have to.

🏥🩺-Anita