Unequal Treatment

Unequal Treatment
Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 781
Release: 2009-02-06
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 030908265X

Racial and ethnic disparities in health care are known to reflect access to care and other issues that arise from differing socioeconomic conditions. There is, however, increasing evidence that even after such differences are accounted for, race and ethnicity remain significant predictors of the quality of health care received. In Unequal Treatment, a panel of experts documents this evidence and explores how persons of color experience the health care environment. The book examines how disparities in treatment may arise in health care systems and looks at aspects of the clinical encounter that may contribute to such disparities. Patients' and providers' attitudes, expectations, and behavior are analyzed. How to intervene? Unequal Treatment offers recommendations for improvements in medical care financing, allocation of care, availability of language translation, community-based care, and other arenas. The committee highlights the potential of cross-cultural education to improve provider-patient communication and offers a detailed look at how to integrate cross-cultural learning within the health professions. The book concludes with recommendations for data collection and research initiatives. Unequal Treatment will be vitally important to health care policymakers, administrators, providers, educators, and students as well as advocates for people of color.

Communities in Action

Communities in Action
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 583
Release: 2017-04-27
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0309452961

In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

Diversity and Inclusion in Academic Medicine

Diversity and Inclusion in Academic Medicine
Author: Association of American Medical Colleges
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Total Pages: 64
Release: 2016-03-07
Genre: Academic medical centers
ISBN: 9781523815890

The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) accreditation standards include specific language for medical education programs to have policies and practices, as well as programs and partnerships that will achieve the school's diversity and inclusion goals. This guide, produced by a multi-disciplinary team of experts, provides a roadmap that will not only help you to comply with important diversity standards, but also to pave the way for developing and sustaining a climate and culture of inclusion at your institution. This second edition includes the latest Supreme Court rulings on diversity and education, updated information on the LCME diversity elements, and updated sections in Part II. Also new for this edition is the online toolkit that accompanies the nine essential tasks (information to access the toolkit is found in the guide). The web-based toolkit aids diversity officers by providing directions, context, institutional examples, and resources for navigating the strategic planning process. Part 1 of the guide provides nine essential tasks as a roadmap for the process of diversity and inclusion strategic planning, plus offers key questions to help you think through each task. The online toolkit includes templates you can adapt for your institution and examples of current diversity strategic plans from medical schools around the country. Part 2 identifies specific strategies that could be included in a plan to meet diversity and inclusion goals, tips for working with leadership, and the skills and competencies needed to succeed as a diversity officer. With this guide plus the online toolkit, you will discover: Solid guidance on setting objectives, identifying tasks, and developing action steps Institutional examples and templates to guide each step of strategic planning process Tips to avoid missteps that could slow your progress Why diversity and inclusion should be included in strategic planning, including the case for excellence, accreditation, business and legality How to establish clear communication and decision-making channels with the key stakeholders Steps you can take in advance to avoid your diversity initiatives from becoming "siloed" How to achieve buy-in on the timeline for carrying out a diversity initiative And much more. This resource will help make the process of preparing a diversity and inclusion strategic plan more manageable and productive.

Cross-cultural Medicine

Cross-cultural Medicine
Author: JudyAnn Bigby
Publisher: ACP Press
Total Pages: 301
Release: 2003
Genre: Health & Fitness
ISBN: 193051302X

As the United States population becomes increasingly diverse, the need for guidelines to assure competent healthcare among minorities becomes ever more urgent. Cross-Cultural Medicine provides important background information on various racial, ethnic, and cultural groups, their general health problems and risks, and spiritual and religious issues. Individual chapters are devoted to the special concerns of several groups: blacks and African Americans, Latinos, American Indians and Native Alaskans, Asian Americans, and Arab Americans and American Muslims. These chapters lay the foundation for exploring an individual's health beliefs and concerns in the context of his or her sociocultural experiences.

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down
Author: Anne Fadiman
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 370
Release: 2012-04-24
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 0374533407

Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, this brilliantly reported and beautifully crafted book explores the clash between a medical center in California and a Laotian refugee family over their care of a child.

Handbook of African American Health

Handbook of African American Health
Author: Jessica M. Ramos
Publisher: Guilford Press
Total Pages: 625
Release: 2011-03-18
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1606237179

With a focus on how to improve the effectiveness and cultural competence of clinical services and research, this authoritative volume synthesizes current knowledge on both the physical and psychological health of African Americans today. In chapters that follow a consistent format for easy reference, leading scholars from a broad range of disciplines review risk and protective factors for specific health conditions and identify what works, what doesn't work, and what might work (i.e., practices requiring further research) in clinical practice with African Americans. Historical, sociocultural, and economic factors that affect the quality and utilization of health care services in African American communities are examined in depth. Evidence-based ways to draw on individual, family, and community strengths in prevention and treatment are highlighted throughout. Winner--American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Award