Reflecting on Racial Health Disparities
Healthcare disparities among racial and ethnic minorities have been a longstanding issue in the United States. The article “Explaining Racial-Ethnic Differences in Hypertension and Diabetes Control among Veterans Before and After Patient-Centered Medical Home Implementation” by Leung et al. (2020) examines how the adoption of the Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) model impacts these disparities within the veteran population. This reflection analyzes the authors’ perspectives on current health disparities, evaluates their proposed methods to reduce these disparities, and compares these viewpoints with my personal beliefs and experiences in healthcare: Reflecting on Racial Health Disparities.
Authors’ Views on Health Disparities
Leung et al. (2020) highlight significant disparities in hypertension and diabetes control among veterans, particularly affecting Black and Hispanic populations compared to their White counterparts. The authors rightly induce these differences to factors like disparity in terms of availability of standard healthcare services, poverty, and, possibly, biases in the system. They stress that these gaps remain present when overall health has improved, which means that there are core problems that need to be addressed.
The study also revealed that health disparities cannot be attributed just to cultural factors but have a lot to do with disparities in structures. Their disadvantages in socioeconomic status, migratory health systems, cultural beliefs, and language barriers, coupled with inadequate healthcare access for ethnic minorities, have made it difficult to close the gap in the management of chronic illnesses among veterans. Additionally, the authors stipulate that although healthcare organizations have sought to improve care delivery processes by standardizing care, they still observe persistent racial and ethnic differences in health.
The article also emphasizes that implicit biases among healthcare providers may contribute to these disparities. Multiple studies state that implicit biases play a role in clinical decision-making, and because of this, people of color may receive differing Instituting recommendations as compared to white patients (Gopal et al., 2021). This means that despite such frameworks like the PCMH, more educational and sensitization measures may be required to address such biases and provide equal care.
Proposed Solutions to Reduce Health Disparities
The authors propose several strategies to mitigate health disparities, emphasizing structural changes within healthcare systems. One of the chief solutions is the advanced Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) model, which improves the methods of creating harmonized care that is well-coordinated and incontestable to the patients. They also focus on culturally competent interventions, meaning interventions based on cultural, language, and belief systems to ensure compliance with medical recommendations.
Another key approach involves increasing the representation of minority healthcare providers. The authors propose that communication barriers can be alleviated with a diverse workforce, getting rid of implicit bias and patients’ comfort and connectedness. Moreover, one of the key approaches to reducing disparities relates to social determinants of health (SDOH), where the focus is on population health improvement through enhanced access to housing, education, and finance (Leung et al., 2020).
Finally, the study recommends additional funding for community health programs and improvements to telehealth due to the pandemic as ways of improving healthcare accessibility. These strategies cooperate in an effort to improve healthcare and the application of interventions for the minority population.
Personal Reflection and Critical Evaluation
As a healthcare professional, I have observed firsthand the impact of systemic disparities on patient outcomes. The authors’ focus on structural processes also resonates with my experiences, as most admitted patients are from the minority and often have to deal with issues in their access to care, socioeconomic status, and cultural mistrust of the healthcare system. These factors impact negatively on health and explain why practical solutions are required.
Discussing chronic conditions, the PCMH value of patient-centered care aligns with my beliefs about the role of an intelligent and friendly doctor-patient relationship. Observing patients over the years, I have realized that each client should be given attention and that the process of talking to them should be as efficient as possible to ensure that they adhere to the prescribed treatment. Therefore, it could be argued that the fact that the identified disparities remain even when PCMH has been embraced presents an argument that this type of health facility model alone cannot solve the problem. Several more measures need to be adopted because of the concerns arising out of minority populations.
The subject that has contributed to changing my perception the most is the incorporation of culture-sensitive practice. The authors opine that integrating culture into the healthcare service delivery system to address this area of concern could be of significance in reducing disparities in health. I have found this insight to affect me personally and have thought over my practice as to how to enhance the understanding of cultural factors influencing patients and incorporate them in patient care.
Most importantly, the study raises the role of policy in influencing the extent of health. Opposing the social determinants of health requires policy reforms to change aspects of education, housing, and employment, among other areas. This realization rectifies the need to speak out and be involved in policy-making initiatives that will ensure equality in the promotion of health (Whitman et al., 2022).
Conclusion
Leung et al. (2020)’s article is informative on the fact that health inequalities have existed among veterans with hypertension and diabetes. This study found that despite the improvements gained with the PCMH model in terms of disease control, there are still differences in which Black veterans have the highest disparity scores. This reflection reveals that apart from using the concepts of patient-centered care, there is a need for interventions that will target health disparities and culturally sensitive policies in the health sector. It is the role of healthcare providers to facilitate and support approaches for improving healthcare access for all patients.
References
Gopal, D., Chetty, U., O’Donnell, P., Gajria, C., & Weinstein, J. B. (2021). Implicit bias in healthcare: Clinical practice, research, and decision making. Future Healthcare Journal, 8(1), 40–48. https://doi.org/10.7861/fhj.2020-0233
Leung, L. B., Steers, W. N., Hoggatt, K. J., & Washington, D. L. (2020). Explaining racial-ethnic differences in hypertension and diabetes control among veterans before and after patient-centered medical home implementation. PLOS ONE, 15(10), e0240306. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240306
Whitman, A., De Lew, N., Chappel, A., Aysola, V., Zuckerman, R., & Sommers, B. (2022, April 1). Addressing social determinants of health: Examples of successful evidence-based strategies and current federal efforts. Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE).https://aspe.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/e2b650cd64cf84aae8ff0fae7474af82/SDOH-Evidence-Review.pdf
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Question 
Reflective Paper – Patient Centered Care and Health Outcomes
For this assignment, you will be writing an APA formatted reflection paper. A reflection paper is an opportunity for you to add your thoughts and analysis to something you have read. The objective is for you to demonstrate your understanding of the content and express in writing how it affects your own thoughts and ideas.
Go to the LibGuide Links to an external site.and click on “Reflective Paper Readings” . Read and reflect on one of the articles listed. (Attached)
The following questions should guide your writing.
- How are the authors’ views relative to current health disparities?
- What ways do the authors pose to potentially reduce health disparities?
- How do your perceptions, actions or beliefs align with those of the author(s)?
Reflecting on Racial Health Disparities
Your paper should be written following 7th ed. APA guidelines, to include a title page, level one headings, and a Reference Page (the article chosen from the Lib GuideLinks to an external site. must be included and other references [if applicable] should be included). Please avoid the use of quotes with this assignment. Please refer to the APA Resources module as needed.
This paper has a word count requirement of 825 – 1000 words. The title page and reference page content do not count towards the overall word count. Your paper will automatically be submitted to Turnitin and must have a similarity index of 25% or less. You are strongly encouraged to review the grading rubric prior to starting this assignment.