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Racial Discrimination in Access to Healthcare
Jackie Gifford
Capella University
Social Welfare and History
Joey Gardner
10-20-2021
Racial Discrimination in Access to Healthcare
In your analysis, describe how the oppression and discrimination impacted this population.
Social justice is the proclamation that all individuals should have the same rights and equal opportunities. This varies from access to health care to the security of places where people live. Social justice problems may impact different populations in unique ways. It is, therefore, the responsibility of social workers to understand the unique challenges that may come up when offering services and supports for these populations who suffer from social injustices. It is also the role of social workers to ensure that there are policies put in place to ensure that social justice problems are addressed. Racial DiscriminationDiscrimination exists in most health care systems. It has resulted in various negative consequences among patients from the races considered inferior and the health care workers. The impacts have been even severe in some instances leading to higher risks of illness and, in certain instances, lower quality of care for people of color. The recent issues of the COVID-19 pandemic have even illustrated this social justice problem further. Studies in the United States health care systems showed that it was more than three times more likely for a black individual to die from the pandemic than a white person. Furthermore, it was twice more likely for an individual in the Latinx population to die from the pandemic than a white person. The study also found out that marginalized health care and social workers had difficulties airing their voices on the lack of personal protective equipment and COVID-19 testing in the pandemic’s early stages (Wilbur et al., 2020).
Discrimination based on race or ethnicity has had several impacts on the people affected by these issues. First, this social justice problem is a crucial factor contributing to the onset of diseases. It is also responsible for increasing physical and mental health disparities among the black, indigenous, and people of color. Research has shown that stress is associated with the experience of racial abuse and is estimated to have long-lasting impacts in terms of physical effects. It is linked with ever-growing rates of stress in terms of health care by increasing a person of color’s risk of developing high blood pressure. It is shown in access to health care that marginalized and minority groups are experiencing more illnesses with worse outcomes and premature deaths in most health care institutions. Poor quality of health care services or lack of affordable quality health care is a significant concern among most marginalized groups.
What ethical considerations in your selected social justice problem must be addressed?
The NASW Code of Ethics states that social workers are determined to serve the welfare of humankind and should lead to the well-being of all without discrimination. Several ethical considerations need to be evaluated to address the social justice problem related to access to health care among the racially discriminated populations. Access to health care services is far from equitable and legitimately calls for the question of social justice. Even though health care insurance provides coverage for most citizens, access to quality health care services is still difficult at its best. Another ethical issue of concern in this social justice problem is malpractice and negligence. Medical errors are one of the leading causes of fatalities in hospitals; despite reducing deaths from this ethical issue, patients from racially discriminated populations are more likely to be affected and may never recover. The vulnerability of these populations in their access to quality health care increases the chances for malpractices (Cox, 2020).
What are implications for social work practice and positive client outcomes?
Regarding this social justice, health care social workers are required to refer the racially discriminated clients to social services as necessary. They are required to provide advice to caregivers and provide education to patients having these social justice problems. Therefore, social work practice must ensure that people going through complex health-related issues in their lives like depression are handled as they undergo proper transition. It further implies that social workers must offer the patients from the discriminated populations better access to health care either from one health care institution to the other or in terms of advice (Crumb et al., 2019).
Health care policies impact the costs that citizens must pay for care and their access to care, and the quality of care received, which can influence their overall health. Health care policy entails the creation and implementation of rules and regulations for managing the health care system. In order to address the issue of access to health care in this population, the United States government signed into law the Affordable Care Act. This law aimed at expanding the health insurance coverage for as many people and curbing health care spending and costs. Another policy that seeks to address this social justice problem is dual eligibility, where individuals from low-income and discriminated populations are eligible for both Medicaid and Medicare. There are benefits for these individuals to be both beneficiaries, thereby increasing their chances for access to health care.
The policy on the Affordable Care Act is to some extent effective in addressing the social justice problem on access to health care. The procedure improves access to health coverage via an expanded, more substantial Medicaid program and new affordable insurance exchanges. It further denies the insurance companies the ability to exempt medical care to individuals with underlying conditions. This means that every individual will have the security of knowing that they can access affordable, quality health care even if they do not have their jobs, migrate to another place or lose their jobs through sickness. This policy has ensured that it prevents DiscriminationDiscrimination based on any issue, treating all kinds of families equally in gaining access to medical care and providing equal access to everyone (Asabor & Vermund, 2020).
Regarding racism, the policy has been able to reduce the racial and ethnic disparities in coverage, although vital inequality still exists. Affordable Care Act has created new health insurance options for the uninsured persons in the low and middle-income populations, a population where most blacks and Hispanics are overrepresented. Certain constraint remains for the individuals who are discriminated based on their skin color. The first significant disparities in the insurance related to health care coverage based on race and ethnicity are a persistent characteristic of the United States health care system. It is a cause of concern for most policymakers in the social justice area and health care professionals. The differences that exist in insurance coverages are an important determinant of disparities in access to care.
Compare advocacy methods for the selected social justice problem
Advocacy in access to health care is important, and examining health care policy and patient support roles makes it easy to understand why it is crucial. For access to health care, there exists large-scale advocacy and individual advocacy. On a large scale, it guides lawmakers and stakeholders who form health care policy and further helps to support informed decision-making processes regarding certain programs. On the other hand, advocacy on an individual scale can often be contradictory and unreliable, and frequent patients’ decision-making abilities are impaired. To address these challenges related to this social justice problem, there is a need to encourage individuals to utilize the support of peers and community, thereby creating a strong sense of racial identity and talking about their racist experiences in access to health care can be a practical step to cope with and manage this social justice problem.
References
Asabor, E. N., & Vermund, S. H. (2020). Confronting structural racism in the prevention and control of tuberculosis in the United States. Clinical Infectious Diseases. https://www.currytbcenter.ucsf.edu/sites/default/files/course-material/nid/confronting_structural_racism_in_prev_and_control_of_tb_in_us.pdf
Cox, C. (2020). Older Adults and Covid 19: Social Justice, Disparities, and Social Work Practice. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 63(6-7), 611-624. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01634372.2020.1808141
Crumb, L., Haskins, N., & Brown, S. (2019). Integrating social justice advocacy into mental health counseling in rural, impoverished American communities. Professional Counselor, 9(1), 20-34. https://tpcjournal.nbcc.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Pages-20-34-Crumb-Integrating-Social-Justice-Advocacy-Into-MHC-in-Rural-Impoverished-American-Communities.pdf
Wilbur, K., Snyder, C., Essary, A. C., Reddy, S., Will, K. K., & Saxon, M. (2020). Developing workforce diversity in the health professions: a social justice perspective. Health Professions Education, 6(2), 222-229. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S245230112030016X
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