Years ago I did a home visit for a middle school student who cared for her grandmother. When I arrived, she was also caring for her cousin who was 2 years old. Her cousin was missing his hands and feet. At some point, the mother arrived and shared the story of how her son lost his limbs. She shared he was sick, and she went to several er’s and was turned away and accused of abusing her son as his limbs were black and blue. Eventually her son was received at a hospital, and was eventually diagnosed treated for an infection, eventually resulting in the loss of limbs. I always wondered if this mother was taken seriously at the 1st hospital, and her son received the appropriate treatment in a timely manor, would he still have his hands and feet. This experience demonstrated to me people may have a difference experience when seeking medical care based on unconscious biases people have.
Concern: Overall community health
Open the Doors
A local nonprofit serves many minorities who are financially challenged. Those served come in sicker and with illnesses that have to be treated more intensely because of their limited access to healthcare services.
WANTED: New Thinking and Leaders Willing to Lead
The storming of the Capitol Building is a story of the deep inequities, of racism and white supremacy. For some, this is blatant and obvious. For others, there is no comprehension of these connections. Is it based on the eye of the beholder? A group of white professionals were talking about being done with perfunctory diversity trainings and workshops. They were saying we (the US) need something stronger. Not driven by HR departments or 2-hours mandated in a school district setting. The entire framing of our systems needs to change in order to make real progress. I agree. Until people are pushed out of their comfort zones personally and accept a degree of personal reflection on these matters, our work will be surface level and meaningful, community and societal level change, won’t be realized.
Lessons from the classroom
I would like to share an example that involves children to note that inequity often begins early on.
Many families in our own communities struggle everyday with virtual school, because they lack access to reliable internet connections, computer equipment, technical skills, adequate space or privacy in the home or simply having someone available to guide them through it. Other families do not have these limitations, and therefore their children are more likely to succeed. In some instances, children who are struggling may unfairly be labeled as difficult, disinterested or lazy. The playing field is simply not level.
At such a young age, these children are already experiencing the harsh reality of inequity.
Childhood dreams
While at a conference, that was primarily attended by while colleagues, I was often in spaces where I was the only black person. on one occasion the conversation drifted to childhood and upbringing and even how the majority of my white colleagues raised their children. It amazes me how much they had access to. how much more of the world they were exposed to and how race wasn’t a constant conversation in their home. It makes me jealous and joyful at the same time. but that access/equity will never sit well with me
Organizations Prescribing Solutions
I have sat on a few county wide conversations, some of them are focused on equity specifically and the idea of community led processes, but by no means is truly that. What has been really frustrating is to hear people prescribe solutions to the community. For example, the Barbershop talks are becoming a best practice, and organizations/system leaders want to force their messaging onto communities through this venue, rather than working with them to co-design what the barbershop would want. Additionally, yoga is promoted as such a huge mental health benefit to our community, everyone is talking about the benefits of it, but does our community feel comfortable in the current yoga spaces? Are they prescribing this solution without asking if the community wants it.
Struggling With Access to Care
I am a 51 yo African American woman who is well-educated, gainfully employed, and fully insured. I live with a chronic condition, systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus) which causes severe joint pain and a host of other challenges. At different times, I have gone to the ER…typically after consultation with or at the direction of my rheumatologist. I have come to loathe these experiences because I have often been questioned to the point of interrogation BEFORE my pain is addressed (if it is addressed). Sometimes it is only after lab work reports high markers of inflammation that my account is ‘confirmed.’ Other times, I have been dismissed until my physician has been consulted or intervenes on my behalf. At the same time I know there are people who receive more attention for hang nails. It’s maddening. Though I have access to health care, I cannot access health care.
Challenges of SSI Disability Benefits
For those individuals seeking SSI-Disability Benefits, individuals who can afford to hire an attorney to advocate and complete forms, and work within the system are two times more likely to be approved for benefits on the first “go around” that those who don’t and definitely increase the approval rating when reapplying after initial denial. However, those who are really in need of guidance, often have lower incomes (if any) and cannot afford or have the ability or access to easily obtain legal counsel. Once approved for benefits, the waiting period for health care access and services through Medicare does not begin until 2 years after approval — a time when many need it most. “People who will become eligible for SSDI benefits are significantly more likely to be uninsured than other workers—an average of 22 percent over the three years prior to SSDI entry, compared with 16 percent in the general population” with the likelihood “living in a family whose income is below the federal poverty level being twice as high among people receiving SSDI benefits as among those who have not yet become disabled” The cost of coverage through COBRA is “cost-prohibitive” for many of these individuals.
Many individuals and families absolutely give up even trying to obtain these benefits even though they are entitled to receive the funds and critical health care services.
No Cocktails For You
My son’s father passed away due to complications from COVID….he was exposed (on his job at the water utilities department) while working in very close quarters with a contractor who had tested positive for the disease. There is no hospital in the rural county where he lives, but he was transported by ambulance to the closest facility about 30 minutes away with obvious signs of apoxia, O2 levels well below the 94% that most acknowledge as a threshold for concern. He spent about 6 hours in the ER before he was moved into a room…on a regular floor (where the nurse to patient ratio is much lower). He was ultimately moved to ICU, intubated, and…there is actually no “and,” there’s a “BUT.” But, he died.
My son’s dad fought, my son fought for him….finally getting eyes on his case after a personal friend of his called the CEO of one of the largest health systems in the country. That gentleman reached out to the CEO of the hospital where his dad was a patient. Several specialists were consulted. All of this after 8p on August 25th. They all said they wish they’d consulted on the case sooner…it was too late. We know that because he passed away the next morning on August 26th.
Inequity treating addictions
In trying to combat the opioid epidemic in 2017, I was confronted by a black friend who expressed his anger at the way the healthcare system, legal system, and local governments were now rallying to this cause, which he attributed to the impact on the white community. He was right. This was and is a glaring example of inequity. I considered all the partners involved in the effort to combat the epidemic, and I realized that almost none were black or Latino. Our previous attempts to combat substance use disorders and addictions had been largely punitive and enforced along racial lines. These biases and practices continue today in how we treat addiction and its community effects.