What is the National Academies'report on unequal treatment?
Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care Review Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2003. Author Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Understanding and Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care
What is unequal treatment?
Unequal Treatmentoffers recommendations for improvements in medical care financing, allocation of care, availability of language translation, community-based care, and other arenas.
Do race and ethnicity predict disparities in health care access?
Racial and ethnic disparities in health care are known to reflect access to care and other issues that arise from differing socioeconomic conditions. There is, however, increasing evidence that even after such differences are accounted for, race and ethnicity remain significant predictors of the qua …
How do you fix inequalities in healthcare?
Raising awareness through education can help address health equity. Improving resource coordination can also help populations most harmed by health disparities. For example, health care organizations can help reduce ethnic health disparities by offering cultural competency training to health care providers.
What was the main finding from the unequal treatment report?
The final report, entitled "Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Healthcare"[23] was released on March 20, 2002. The report's major findings state that: Racial and ethnic disparities in health care exist, and are unacceptable because they are associated with worse health outcomes.
What can physicians do to address health disparities?
Physicians can also work to eliminate racial and ethnic healthcare disparities by encouraging diversity within the profession, continuing to investigate healthcare disparities, and supporting the development of appropriate quality measures.
What are the different issues encountered on unequal treatment?
Care Process-Level Variables: The Role of Bias, Stereotyping, UncertaintyClinical Uncertainty. ... The Implicit Nature of Stereotypes. ... Healthcare Provider Prejudice or Bias. ... Medical Decisions Under Time Pressure with Limited Information. ... Patient Response: Mistrust and Refusal.
How do you address racial disparities in healthcare?
Increase awareness of racial and ethnic disparities in health care among the general public. Strengthen patient-provider relationships in publicly funded health plans. Apply the same managed care protections to publicly funded HMO participants that apply to private HMO participants.
What healthcare consumers need to know about racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare?
Surveys show that, by and large, the general public is unaware that minorities receive a lower quality of care than whites. Many physicians, too, are unaware of the extent of racial and ethnic disparities in care. Greater awareness is likely to lead to more public and professional concern to solve the problem.
What can physicians do to promote health equity?
“Advancing Health Equity by Avoiding Judgmentalism and Contextualizing Care.” Judgmentalism applied to patients from poor and marginalized communities exacerbates health inequity and illuminates the importance of contextualizing a patient's care.
What can doctors do to improve health equity?
First, the Association encourages physicians to recommend a career in medicine to students in disadvantaged communities. Second, the Association encourages physicians to advocate for policies addressing health inequity at local, state, and federal levels.
How do you address health inequalities?
Specifically, public health can contribute to reducing health inequities by integrating health equity considerations into policy and programs, collaborating with other sectors to address inequities, engaging with communities to support their efforts to address inequities, identifying the reduction of health inequities ...
How can we prevent unequal treatment?
If you are being treated unfairly in the workplace, there are a number of steps you can take in order to protect your rights:Document The Unfair Treatment. ... Report The Unfair Treatment. ... Stay Away From Social Media. ... Take Care Of Yourself. ... Contact An Experienced Lawyer.
Is unequal treatment always discrimination?
In daily life we distinguish between people all the time, based on age, gender, background, you name it. We do not always treat everyone equally. Because everyone is not the same. So, it is normal to distinguish between people and to treat them unequally.
What is the meaning of unequal treatment?
is a situation where a given person was, is or would be treated less favourably than another person in a comparable situation, in particular on the grounds of sex, race, ethnic origin, nationality, religion, denomination, beliefs, age, disability or sexual orientation.
What is health disparity?
Health Disparities (HD) are community-based, biomedical challenges in need of innovative contributions from Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields. Surprisingly, STEM professionals demonstrate a persistent lack of HD awareness and/or engagement in both research and educational activities. This project introduced Health Disparities (HD) as technical challenges to incoming undergraduates in order to elevate engineering awareness of HD. The objective was to advance STEM-based, HD literacy and outreach to young cohorts of engineers. Engineering students were introduced to HD challenges in technical and societal contexts as part of Engineering 101 courses. Findings demonstrate that student comprehension of HD challenges increased via joint study of rising health care costs, engineering ethics and growth of biomedical-related engineering areas.
What is continuous quality improvement?
The continuous quality improvement (CQI) model is widely applied in hospitals in the developed world and is an effective means of improving health service practices and outcomes. Consumer research indicates that most successful consumer centered reforms involve consumers in all phases of the ‘plan, do, study, act’ cycle and culturally this is consistent with the expectations of Aboriginal Australians. Hospitals already use CQI processes however we argue that this model can be applied to cultural standards. The aim of Improving the Culture of Hospitals Project (ICHP) was to develop an evidence-based quality improvement framework (toolkit) for Australian hospitals. This toolkit includes a range of resources, tools and guidelines to support the design and implementation of CQI strategies for improving cultural sensitivity as it relates to Indigenous Australians. Hospital case studies were undertaken to develop, then trial, the toolkit. Training for Aboriginal staff in the use of CQI technology was implemented. The draft toolkit, along with the findings from the case studies, was then presented to a national key stake holder forum to explore implementation and future research issues. The findings show that hospitals that have improved cultural sensitivity share a number of key characteristics including relationships with Aboriginal communities and commitment to supporting their Aboriginal workforce. In conclusion, hospitals require senior management to prioritise and support this work and ensure Aboriginal staff are trained to facilitate the process. The inclusion of Aboriginal specific elements in the Australian Council of Healthcare Standards is also seen as a key driver for change.
What is the purpose of an academic health centre?
Purpose Academic health centres (AHCs) are organisations that pursue a “tripartite” mission to deliver high-quality care to patients, undertake clinical and laboratory research, and train future health professionals. The last decade has seen a global spread of AHC models and a growing interest in the role of AHCs in addressing health system equity. The purpose of this paper is to synthesise and critically appraise the evidence on the role of AHCs in improving health equity. Design/methodology/approach Peer-reviewed and grey literature published in English between 2000 and 2016 were searched. Articles that identified AHCs as the primary unit of analysis and that also addressed health equity concepts in relation to the AHC’s activity or role were included. Findings In total, 103 publications met the inclusion criteria of which 80 per cent were expert opinion. Eight descriptive themes were identified through which health equity concepts in relation to AHCs were characterised, described and operationalised: population health, addressing health disparities, social determinants of health, community engagement, global health, health system reform, value-based and accountable financing models, and role clarification/recalibration. There was consensus that AHCs can and should address health disparities, but there is a lack of empirical evidence to show that AHCs have a capacity to contribute to health equity goals or are demonstrating this contribution. Originality/value This review highlights the relevance of health equity concepts in discussions about the role and missions of AHCs. Future research should improve the quality of the evidence base by empirically examining health equity strategies and interventions of AHCs in multiple countries and contexts.
What is the mission of the infectious diseases profession?
Advancing the health of all members of the global community remains core to the mission of the infectious diseases profession. Training, research, healthcare-delivery, and other infectious diseases-related institutions play a central role in meeting this goal. The promotion of inclusion, diversity, access, and equity (IDA&E) is critical to harnessing the full range of human creativity, innovation, and talent necessary to realizing the education, research, patient care, and service missions that constitute the principal objectives of such institutions. Strong and positive institutional cultures and climates are essential to achieving these IDA&E goals. We discuss opportunity gaps that exist in leveraging institutional culture and climate to optimize IDA&E. We further identify effective strategies to address these gaps and achieve excellence in education, research, patient care, and service in infectious diseases and the broader healthcare and biomedical space. We discuss the importance of both local and global context in conceptualizing IDA&E to best achieve these aims.
What is the IOM report on cancer?
Background: The Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, "Unequal Treatment," which defines disparities as racially based, indicates that disparities in cancer diagnosis and treatment are less clear. While a number of studies have acknowledged cancer disparities, they have limitations of retrospective nature, small sample sizes, inability to control for covariates, and measurement errors. Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine disparities as predictors of survival among newly diagnosed head and neck cancer patients recruited from 3 hospitals in Michigan, USA, while controlling for a number of covariates (health behaviors, medical comorbidities, and treatment modality). Methods: Longitudinal data were collected from newly diagnosed head and neck cancer patients (N = 634). The independent variables were median household income, education, race, age, sex, and marital status. The outcome variables were overall, cancer-specific, and disease-free survival censored at 5 years. Kaplan-Meier curves and univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards models were performed to examine demographic disparities in relation to survival. Results: Five-year overall, cancer-specific, and disease-free survival were 65.4% (407/622), 76.4% (487/622), and 67.0% (427/622), respectively. Lower income (HR, 1.5; 95% CI, 1.1-2.0 for overall survival; HR, 1.4; 95% CI, 1.0-1.9 for cancer-specific survival), high school education or less (HR, 1.4; 95% CI, 1.1-1.9 for overall survival; HR, 1.4; 95% CI, 1.1-1.9 for cancer-specific survival), and older age in decades (HR, 1.4; 95% CI, 1.2-1.7 for overall survival; HR, 1.2; 95% CI, 1.1-1.4 for cancer-specific survival) decreased both overall and disease-free survival rates. A high school education or less (HR, 1.4; 95% CI, 1.0-2.1) and advanced age (HR, 1.3; 95% CI, 1.1-1.6) were significant independent predictors of poor cancer-specific survival. Conclusion: Low income, low education, and advanced age predicted poor survival while controlling for a number of covariates (health behaviors, medical comorbidities, and treatment modality). Recommendations from the Institute of Medicine's Report to reduce disparities need to be implemented in treating head and neck cancer patients.
What are social determinants of health?
Several papers considered the role of AHCs in addressing the SDH (Washington et al., 2016;Perman et al., 2015;Association of Academic Health Centers, 2015;Wartman, 2010;Wartman and Steinberg, 2011; Betancourt and Maina, 2004), defined in one policy paper as the factors (including social circumstances, environment, behavioural choices and access to medical care) that determine, or strongly influence, the ability to achieve and maintain good health throughout one's life (Association of Academic Health Centers, 2015). Commitment to addressing the SDH was emphasised as a key feature of the role of AHCs in population health improvement (Washington et al., 2016;Wartman et al., 2015). ...
About the Author
Usha Lee McFarling is a national science correspondent for STAT based in Los Angeles. She is examining health inequities and their toll.
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