Unfair Treatment to Children of Color
Across the United States, many children of color suffer from racial inequities in the healthcare system. It can extend from neonatal care or emergency care, to mental health and painkillers. “We now have more evidence than ever that pediatric care in the U.S. is not only disparate, but inequitable for a large group of children,” stated Dr. Nia Heard-Garris, assistant professor of advanced pediatric care at NWU. Evidence has been found that white children receive more IV, pain killers, and much more compared to children of color. “It is abundantly clear that to ensure every child in the U.S. receives the best possible health care, there is a critical need for far-reaching policy changes that directly address deep-rooted structural racism at its core,” said Dr. Monique Jindal assistant professor of clinical medicine at UIC.
Researchers have reviewed dozens of studies to different healthcare quality received by different groups of children. However, the inequities that Dr. Nia Garris encountered were devastating. “No matter where you look, there are disparities in care for Black Americans, Hispanic, Latino, Asian Americans — pretty much every racial and ethnic group that’s not white,” said Dr. Garris. She added that there are many different examples that prove this.
Her review came to the conclusion that children of color are less likely to get imaging done and have a higher risk of complications during a surgery procedure than those that are white. However, the biggest disparity in healthcare treatment was found to be in pain killers. Children of color are more likely to be let suffering in pain from broken bones due to lack of pain killers being given to them. “Those are some really severe examples of how this plays out,” stated Dr. Jindal.
What Policies Would Be Needed To Change
Some experts have stated that there are certain policies that should be reevaluated. However, not all the policies are in healthcare. Here are a few policies that experts suggest could help reducing inequities:
- Promote affordable housing to the low income community in well developed and safe neighborhoods.
- Make health insurance access easier for people.
- Have more available good paying jobs.
- Promote fair and logical immigration policies.
Would This Be Enough Evidence For a Change?
Lastly, researchers have concluded that the reason for this disparity is due to structural racism, and healthcare unconscious bias. “Anyone who has their eyes open knows that the disparities exist. Where we’re really lacking is talking about tangible solutions,” said Dr. Jindal. Additionally, Jindal was ultimately the lead author on a companion paper who suggested a change in the system and take some action against pediatric healthcare policies. “We cannot have high-quality health care or equitable health care without addressing each of the policy issues with the other sectors of society,” stated Jindal.
However, changing policies may require a lot of time. And some policies may not even be able to be changed at all. Nonetheless, Dr. Jindal will continue to tackle at the bare minimum some basic level healthcare policies. Some of the policies would be continuing the eligibility for programs like SNAP, Medicare, and CHIP. This is to ensure that all children can have a chance at having a healthy life. Having these programs running will be helping their cause even a little bit. For the meantime, however, Dr. Jindal would like to get healthcare staff to please take a step back and check their practice values.
“Even if you are the most progressive provider, you’re still going to have things that are blinders,” stated Dr. Jindal. More in depth research on the race inequities may be needed.
Written by Erika P. Cano
Sources:
Northwestern Now: Pediatric care for non-white children is universally worse across U.S.
US News: Non-White U.S. Kids Get Worse Pediatric Care
NPR: Kids of color get worse health care across the board in the U.S., research finds
Top and Featured Image Courtesy of jodimarr Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Monash University Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
