Healthcare Disparities: African American Children (Research, Video 2:48)

Healthcare disparities are inequalities that exist when members of certain populations do not benefit from the same healthcare as other groups. Historically, disparities have been an ongoing tragedy for African Americans. People usually think of adults as being victimized by healthcare disparities, not children. But for African Americans, disparities are cradle-to-grave tragedies beginning at birth. Infants born to African American women are far more likely to die than those born to white women. 

Disparities include not only the high percentages in disease rankings such as heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes, but also procedures such as pain treatment. Based on Children’s National Hospital researched results using the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, a disturbing study of America’s emergency rooms reveals that African American children receive substantially less pain control for appendicitis than non-African American children.

In America, African American healthcare disparities continue to persist and even increase in some cases in spite of countless acknowledgements of their existence by healthcare institutions, longstanding research, and numerous recommendations to eliminate the statistical inequities representing real people. There is clearly a sickness in the healthcare system, a systemic overt-covert racism or stereotypical racial perceptions of pain that is not being addressed effectively. This is not only a healthcare issue, but a moral one.

While some may see this only as an African American issue, it isn’t. Healthcare disparities impact not only individuals victimized by them, but also their families, their communities, and the nation. With generational suffering and repercussions on many levels, illnesses create long-term economic burdens and major losses of productivity.

The following video addresses the study of America’s emergency room disparities in a study revealing that African American children receive substantially less pain control for appendicitis than non-African American children.

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You can read this link about disparities in nursing home incontinence care and view an incontinence care video. 

Frances Shani Parker, Author
Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes is available in paperback and e-book editions in America and other countries at online and offline booksellers.

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