Lack of Diversity in Health Care: A Health Disparity | Kiaana Howard, DPT | TEDxLenoxVillageWomen

[iamLeo-]

This is some very informative information. I will definitely share this video with my peers. Dr. Howard is an awesome Physical Therapist with amazing bedside manners. I am grateful for her healthcare services.

[rickishaBurks-zx]

This information was very needed and informative thank you so much for everything

[wellbodisalone]

“We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color.”

–Maya Angelou

[Theniqway]

Thank you for everything you do, Dr. Kiaana Howard! ♥️🤞🏾

[maxkoszowski]

Diminishing health disparities among minority groups in the medical world is essential. Dr. Howard does an outstanding job explaining how this can be accomplished via mindfulness and optimizing health and wellness. Dr. Howard addresses that one avenue that has shown promise in reducing health disparities is mindfulness practices. Mindfulness is the practice of being present and aware of the current moment, without judgment. It can be practiced through meditation, breathing exercises, and other techniques. Studies have shown that mindfulness practices can have positive effects on mental and physical health, including reducing stress and anxiety, improving sleep, and even lowering blood pressure. When attempting to establish practices that all people have access to, mindfulness stands out as a great way to accomplish this. It requires no extra resources other than an initial meeting to establish both the how and why.
Another way to promote better health and wellness among minority groups is through optimizing their access to resources and education. This includes ensuring that they have access to affordable and nutritious food, safe housing, and quality healthcare. Education on healthy habits, such as exercise, nutrition, and stress management, can also be helpful in promoting wellness and preventing health disparities.

[abby]

I thought that this presentation by Dr. Howard did a great job at highlighting the research on the benefits of having healthcare providers who look like you. I thought the research she cited was very interesting and makes a good argument on why things need to change. When we do not work towards making the field more diverse, we are hurting our patients in the long run. When you think about this in the lens of medical ethics, you could say that it goes against the concepts of non-maleficence (do no harm) and beneficence (promote good).
When I reflect on the process of getting into medical school, I can see numerous ways in which the system prevents many people from being able to succeed. There are so many hurdles to overcome to be able to apply and get into medical school. One of the requirements for medical school is to have shadowing hours. For many students, they get opportunities for shadowing through the friends and colleagues of their parents. This is one area of the application where who you know and the connections you have really matters.
Another area of the application that I believe promotes inequality is clinical work experience. During college, I worked at the athletic center desk during the year. Then during the summer I worked on research on campus. Both of these jobs were paying only a little over minimum wage. I then scribed for one year while I applied to medical school. Again, only making slightly over minimum wage. Meanwhile, my brother who is in the business school was able to find summer jobs with much better pay. I feel that the application process pressures students to have work experience in the medical field. However, the jobs that will take students with no healthcare experience are either internships with no pay or very minimal pay. I believe that this setup creates barriers for students who need a job to get through school.
The part of the application that I believe is the biggest barrier to applicants is the absurd cost of medical school applications. If you look at the American Medical Association website, it costs $170 to submit your application and then $39 for each additional school you want to apply to. After this round, schools can then send you a secondary application, which many of them ask for another deposit to submit this application. The cost of applying to medical school truly baffles me. If you look online at reddit discussions, it is not uncommon to find students needing to take out credit cards or loans to be able to afford just the application process. However, there is no guarantee that these students will get in their first year applying. Therefore, potentially making this a huge financial risk for some. Overall, I believe if we want to promote good for our future patients, we need to lessen the barriers to even apply to medical school.

[LaxM-cn]

Howard discusses a very crucial point in medicine, lack of diversity in healthcare. She does a great job bringing up why this is so important and how this affects quality of patient care. She discusses how having more diverse healthcare professionals will lead to more preventative medicine and better health outcomes. I would like to add another point to why having more diverse healthcare professionals would be beneficial and that is being understanding of culturally diverse beliefs. Understanding various cultural beliefs and religious beliefs can help healthcare professionals better understand a patient’s decisions or their willingness to give the decision making to someone else. This is about patient autonomy. Healthcare providers need to respect and support patient’s autonomous decisions even if those decisions may go against medical advice. Having more diverse health professionals allows for better understanding of these decisions and maybe provides better alternatives for patients because of this comprehension. Patients also may give their decision making to someone else such as a parent, grandparent, community leader, etc. which may also be difficult to understand, but if the healthcare professional is already aware of these beliefs and the foundation of the beliefs, communication and guidance can be more efficient and personalized. This can increase trust and better health outcomes as Howard had discussed.

[rygy]

Thanks so much Dr. Howard for sharing your critical perspective. Just how we've seen more and more representation in media, we need more representation in so many other areas, like politics, education, and healthcare.

[JodyBrownIV]

I also was exposed to pt from an ankle injury! Now I'm on the path to becoming a pta!

[Erica-ys]

yes i agree with the doctor, this profession is diverse with minority groups

[MovewithMarcia]

Is Dr Kiaana on youtube or have a website? Would love to connect in community.

[BDubs-xv]

The racial disparities outlined in this video are one of the most important issues in healthcare today. Representation is absolutely key, as Dr. Howard states, and this is true for both educational institutions as well as healthcare providers and institutions. This includes representation at all levels--on educational admissions committees, board members within facilities, teachers, and providers themselves. Without this type of representation, studies have shown that health outcomes for underrepresented minorities are worse than they are for those who are appropriately represented. It’s not hard to see how deeply unfair and unethical this is for everyone involved, but it is also a blight on who we are as a society that this is not being addressed more aggressively at all levels. This aspect of the healthcare system is unethical because it goes against the ethical concept of justice, which aims to maximize benefit to both patients and society with an emphasis on equality and fairness. Increasing minority representation in all areas of healthcare, including the educational pathway, will go a long way toward improving outcomes in marginalized communities. It is not easy to overcome deeply rooted systemic racism on a large scale and personal biases on an individual scale, but it is the right thing to do in order to strive for ethical justice for everyone.

[ladydoc]

My cousin has a doctorate in physical therapy dr. Carmen Williams in Atlanta. I hope you know her.

[NancyJackson-cx]

Racial minorities are contracting chronic health conditions at a far greater rate than the white majority. There are many factors that are linked to health, but there is likely a connection to the lack of diversity of minority groups representing health care roles. Disadvantaged minority students aren’t getting the exposure to the health care careers due to systemic racism. Studies have shown better health care outcomes from providers that look like their patients. Better preventative care, less chronic health conditions, improved patient provider communication, and lower morbidity and mortality rates among minorities. Improving our diversity in health care education will not improve justice by decreasing the minority health gap. It will improve non-maleficence because there is correlation with decreased morbidity and mortality with like appearing providers. There will be beneficence by giving patients more confidence to come be seen by a doctor that looks like them and wants the best for them. These values of being a physician are valuable and should be upheld in all circumstances. If there is truly a correlation with better health outcomes, then our health care education system must continue to improve the diversity of students to change the landscape of our health care providers to reflect our population.