Mental Health Practice and Medical Racism †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Mental Health Practice and Medical Racism. Answer: Medical racism Racisms has great effects in the process of offering medical care and hence may influence the healthcare outcomes. This essay will explore ways in which racism impact medical care in terms of structures as well as institutions. It is a general requirement that for a racism to function un the medical sector, there is a need for several healthcare systems to collaborate at a close range (Feagin Bennefield, 2014). Since medical care is an institution just like other institutions, it is affected by cultural and racial differences in a society. In this case, an institution is imposed too many burdens in such a way that some members of one race in the society reaps less medical benefits as compared to the other. For instance, racial differences may lead to disparities in terms of access to health care. In some health studies, there have been reported differences in terms of provision of health care on the basis of racial differences. Literature studies indicate that in some places, there are varied differences in terms of the recommendations made regarding medical treatments. For instance, in the United States, when health insurance was adjusted, the Whites received high chances of getting some treatments like chemo dialysis, bypass surgery, and pneumonia intensive care as compared to the Blacks (Feagin, 2017). On the other hand, women and the Blacks were more likely to receive cardiac catheters when they were suffering from myocardial infarction as compared to males and Whites. Despite the fact that the rate of hospitalizations among the Blacks and Whites due to cardiac problems, it is notable that the type and quality of health care services that they receive are different, based on racial differences (Hardeman et al., 2016). An example is the health care in the United States whereby the Latinos, more so the women cannot afford the medical insurance cover. In other cases, medical care differences are due to the White males dominance in terms of status and affordability while at the same time, the healthcare institutions do not make any efforts to attend to the racial differences in terms of differences in races, culture, and economic status. In some other situations, it is possible for racism in health care without the caregivers' intention. This is common especially in a situation whereby the dominant group unknowingly discriminate the minority groups based on race or gender (Smith, 2015). In individual racisms, it is possible that negative stereotypes, discrimination, and prejudice among others may develop, such that these negative attitudes, cumulatively among the majority groups are directed against the minorities. Thus, some people in the society may tend to believe that there are some biological differences among various races which play a role in terms of social, intellectual as well as health differences. In term of medical experiments, the blacks, who are viewed to be inferior in terms of health and intelligence might be used as experimental subjects without their consent. For instance, James Marion used the Women who were viewed as being inferior as subjects in experiments aimed at getting treatments for vaginal fistula. Moreover, in the search for the treatment for syphilis by the USPHS, the Blacks, who are viewed to be inferior were said that they did not require treatment against syphilis, although they too were suffering from this condition (Katz Warren, 2014). Generally, it is not a common practice to let health care delivery be segregated on the basis of racial differences. Although in some cases, the race might impact the biological differences which in turn impact the nature of treatment response, this should not be the overall basis of healthcare (Bodkin-Andrews Carlson, 2016). When racial differences begin to manifest, there is a high likelihood of some races having poor health status as compared to the dominant races and this may lead to poverty and differences in social classes. Health care providers should be universal and each patient should be handled individually and not on the basis of their race. Generally, medical care should put aside all forms of differences and be provided in a universal manner. For instance, if treatment of some conditions is neglected among a certain race, there might be a high prevalence and widespread of the disease even to the majority of the race within the same community or area. This calls for all medical institutions to collaborate such that the systems are based on the provision of standard and universal care to everyone. Since the outcomes of racial discrimination in most cases result in stressful experiences, more health complications might arise in the communities. Although some racial discrimination may occur unknowingly, it is worth noting that it might result in negative effects in form of quality and quantity of health care on minority groups. References Bodkin-Andrews, G., Carlson, B. (2016). The legacy of racism and Indigenous Australian identity within education. Race Ethnicity and Education, 19(4), 784-807. Feagin, J. (2017). Systemic Racism and Race Categorization in US Medical Research and Practice. The American Journal of Bioethics, 17(9), 54-56. Feagin, J., Bennefield, Z. (2014). Systemic racism and US health care. Social science medicine, 103, 7-14. Hardeman, R. R., Medina, E. M., Kozhimannil, K. B. (2016). Structural racism and supporting black livesthe role of health professionals. New England Journal of Medicine, 375(22), 2113-2115. Katz, R. V., Warren, R. C. (2014). The Search for the Legacy of the USPHS Syphilis Study at Tuskegee. Lexington 2011. Journal of the National Medical Association, 106, 73-74. Smith, B. A. (2015). A New Perspective on Racism and Health: How White Men are Hurt by Their Own Racial Attitudes (Doctoral dissertation, Vanderbilt University).