Listening, Learning and Responding to Disparities in Health Care

By Kathryn Ruscitto

Monday, November 2, 2020

I am not sure I realized what white privilege meant until I sat in a room of diverse women several years ago.

As we went around the table and discussed our careers, I listened to issues that I had not encountered. When the evening was over, I left asking myself how I could use my position and advantage to open more doors and help advance the careers of diverse women. That was a lesson I wished I had learned earlier in my career.

There were times I would ask board committees I was on or at events I was part of to recruit more diverse candidates for board positions or honors. Some organizations listened and acted, others did not.

Many years ago, I was also involved with setting policies that involved choosing a location for senior housing or clinics without asking myself if underserved populations could access the facilities. Later in my career, when those questions were asked, it resulted in better access and funding awards to benefit all communities.

The past several months of public discourse have helped me understand what my Black friends tried to tell me, how my own discomfort prevented me from recognizing the racism they faced every day and the pain that resulted for their families.

Those of us who have worked and are working in health care cannot let the disparities that exist in access and treatment to continue. The data is clear. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

  • Diabetes among white adults is 7.5 %
  • Diabetes among Black adults is 11.7 %
  • Diabetes among Hispanic adults is 12.5%

These same disparities exist in breast cancer, Lyme disease , heart failure and maternal outcomes. Funding for research and treatment for chronic diseases must have a priority to reverse these trends. Our voices in our associations’ legislative agendas should advocate for this focus.

This period in our country demands we acknowledge we have a lot of learning and change to initiate, followed by action plans. I’ve stopped asking my BIPOC friends what to do. It’s time to figure out what I have to do to be a better colleague, friend and neighbor.

We all have opportunities to move this discussion forward by asking in our own spheres of influence:

  • Are our boards reflecting diversity?
  • Are our executive teams diverse?
  • Are our providers culturally sensitive?
  • Are our staff trained to be welcoming and culturally sensitive?

If the answer is no to any of the above, then, we must decide what are we doing to mentor, train and hold ourselves and our teams accountable for progress. It’s up to all of us to lead on these issues.

Resources Available

There are great resources available to help on this journey.

  • healthypeople.gov
  • ama-assn.org
  • Health Disparities Toolkit
  • Unequal Treatment, Institute of Medicine
  • Just Medicine: A Cure for Racial Inequality in American Health Care
  • Health Disparities in the United States