Today’s discussion in class got me thinking about the relation between race and healthcare. We talked specifically about how there is an inequality in the health of whites vs. minorities. Dr. Fathman also brought up the issue of the general mistrust by minorities of healthcare providers (particularly African Americans following the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment). This idea of mistrust truly intrigues me. The entire discussion made me think about the specific relationship between the race of the healthcare provider (most often a physician) in relation to the race of the patient. Specifically—Do minorities trust healthcare providers of their same race? Or is there some level of conflict involved? (I.E., do they feel betrayed?)
I feel that the idea of mistrust is a huge issue regarding minorities and their ability and/or desire to receive healthcare. I feel that many minorities feel that the health care system does not meet their needs. Additionally, I feel that minorities often feel the need to advocate for themselves because they feel that the healthcare system has suspect motives.
In response to my question, I can see two different possibilities: (1) minority patients feel safe and cared for when their physician is the same race or (2) minority patients are even less willing to see physicians of their same race because they feel a sense of betrayal, as if the individual has adopted a white perspective; therefore, these physicians should be trusted even less so.
The first option makes general sense. It makes sense that an individual who feels mistrust towards a majority white physician may feel more trust towards a physician who shares the same race. The sharing of race between the physician and patient allows for a sense of comradery. The patient ultimately believes that the physician has their best interests at heart and will provide the best care possible.
On the other hand, I have often heard about how minority groups turn their backs on individuals who assimilate into the majority. Could it be possible that minority patients would be even less trusting of physicians who they feel have betrayed their race?
What do you all think?
Interesting post. I know for the Vietnamese community in St. Louis at least, Vietnamese tend to go to the few Vietnamese physicians that are around simply because most Vietnamese here don't speak English very well so they are more comfortable speaking to a doctor in their own language. Granted, there are translators available at many hospitals, but to have to contact a third party every time one visits a doctor or to receive information from a doctor only after it has been filtered through someone else is a bit of a hassle.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, a lot of Vietnamese don't really trust Vietnamese physicians. Even though my family lives near a private client runs by a Vietnamese doctor, we still choose a family doctor that works at a farther distance. This is because my parents have the notion that Vietnamese doctors tend to overcharge their patients and are a bit loose on following regulations since they know their Vietnamese patients wouldn't know what they are doing is appropriate or not.
Now I myself can't really say if this is true or not. However, I did go to a Vietnamese client once to get a quick physical exam in order to tryout for a school sport and I will say that the physician did a pretty sloppy job at taking my measurements and examining my physical state. I feel like all he did was really sign my physical form so that I can meet my requirement, which he knew was my main point in coming.
That's an isolated case, however, so I can't generalize all Vietnamese doctors to be that way. But some of the issues I have mentioned above are just some things I've notice in the Vietnamese community here in St. Louis.
Your point about Vietnamese patients avoiding Vietnamese practitioners is similar to what I was thinking about when writing this post. In a previous class, we specifically looked at the relation between African Americans and their physicians. Research has shown that some African Americans avoid black physicians because they feel that they are in many ways inferior to white physicians--intellectually, competently, etc. Your post brings up other factors that I had not even considered--economic reasons and legal/legitimacy issues.
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