Association of Provider Perspectives on Race and Racial Health Care Disparities with Patient Perceptions of Care and Health Outcomes

BackgroundPreventative medicine has become a central focus in primary care provision, with greater emphasis on education and access to health care screening. The Department of Health reports existing health inequalities and inequalities in access within ethnic minority groups. Studies assessing the value of community engagement in primary care have reported variable outcomes in term of subsequent service utilisation.AimTo consider the benefit of community-based health screening checks to improve access and health outcomes in minority ethnic groups.MethodAn open community health screening event (n = 43), to allow targeted screening within an ethnic minority population. Screening included BP, BMI, BM and cholesterol. Results were interpreted by a healthcare professional and counselling was provided regarding relevant risk factors. Post-event feedback was gathered to collate participant opinion and views.ResultsSeventy-nine per cent of participants were from ethnic minority backgrounds: 64% were overweight or obese and 53% of participants were referred to primary care for urgent review following abnormal findings. All those referred would not have accessed healthcare without the event referral. All (100%) participants believed it improved health education and access to health care.ConclusionThis study clearly demonstrates the value of targeted community-led screening and education events in public health promotion. There was a significant benefit in providing community-based screening. There is a need for a longitudinal analysis to determine the impact on health outcomes and long-term access to healthcare provision.

Download Full-text

Author Correction: Deep transfer learning for reducing health care disparities arising from biomedical data inequality

Nature Communications ◽

10.1038/s41467-020-20480-x ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Yan Gao ◽

Yan Cui

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Transfer Learning ◽

Health Care Disparities ◽

Biomedical Data

A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-20480-x

Download Full-text

A Scoping Review of Behavior Change Interventions to Decrease Health Care Disparities for Patients With Disabilities in a Primary Care Setting: Can Social Marketing Play a Role?

Social Marketing Quarterly ◽

10.1177/1524500421992135 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 27 (1) ◽

pp. 48-63

Author(s):

Angela Makris ◽

Mahmooda Khaliq ◽

Elizabeth Perkins

Keyword(s):

Primary Care ◽

Health Care ◽

Behavior Change ◽

Social Marketing ◽

Health Care Disparities ◽

Social Model ◽

Care Providers ◽

Social Model Of Disability ◽

Behavior Change Interventions ◽

The Social

Background: One in four Americans have a disability but remain an overlooked minority population at risk for health care disparities. Adults with disabilities can be high users of primary care but often face unmet needs and poor-quality care. Providers lack training, knowledge and have biased practices and behaviors toward people with disabilities (PWD); which ultimately undermines their quality of care. Focus of the Article: The aim is to identify behavior change interventions for decreasing health care disparities for people with disabilities in a healthcare setting, determine whether those interventions used key features of social marketing and identify gaps in research and practice. Research Question: To what extent has the social marketing framework been used to improve health care for PWD by influencing the behavior of health care providers in a primary health care setting? Program Design/Approach: Scoping Review. Importance to the Social Marketing Field: Social marketing has a long and robust history in health education and public health promotion, yet limited work has been done in the disabilities sector. The social marketing framework encompasses the appropriate features to aligned with the core principles of the social model of disability, which espouses that the barriers for PWD lie within society and not within the individual. Incorporating elements of the social model of disability into the social marketing framework could foster a better understanding of the separation of impairment and disability in the healthcare sector and open a new area of research for the field. Results: Four articles were found that target primary care providers. Overall, the studies aimed to increase knowledge, mostly for clinically practices and processes, not clinical behavior change. None were designed to capture if initial knowledge gains led to changes in behavior toward PWD. Recommendations: The lack of published research provides an opportunity to investigate both the applicability and efficacy of social marketing in reducing health care disparities for PWD in a primary care setting. Integrating the social model of disability into the social marketing framework may be an avenue to inform future interventions aimed to increase health equity and inclusiveness through behavior change interventions at a systems level.

Download Full-text

An Overview of Cancer Health Disparities: New Approaches and Insights and Why They Matter

Carcinogenesis ◽

10.1093/carcin/bgaa121 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Tsion Zewdu Minas ◽

Maeve Kiely ◽

Anuoluwapo Ajao ◽

Stefan Ambs

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Health Disparities ◽

Social Stress ◽

Access To Health Care ◽

Health Care Disparities ◽

Underserved Populations ◽

Tumor Biology ◽

Cultural Barriers ◽

Cancer Therapies ◽

Cancer Health Disparities

Abstract Cancer health disparities remain stubbornly entrenched in the US health care system. The Affordable Care Act was legislation to target these disparities in health outcomes. Expanded access to health care, reduction in tobacco use, uptake of other preventive measures and cancer screening, and improved cancer therapies greatly reduced cancer mortality among women and men and underserved communities in this country. Yet, disparities in cancer outcomes remain. Underserved populations continue to experience an excessive cancer burden. This burden is largely explained by health care disparities, lifestyle factors, cultural barriers, and disparate exposures to carcinogens and pathogens, as exemplified by the COVID-19 epidemic. However, research also shows that comorbidities, social stress, ancestral and immunobiological factors, and the microbiome, may contribute to health disparities in cancer risk and survival. Recent studies revealed that comorbid conditions can induce an adverse tumor biology, leading to a more aggressive disease and decreased patient survival. In this review, we will discuss unanswered questions and new opportunities in cancer health disparity research related to comorbid chronic diseases, stress signaling, the immune response, and the microbiome, and what contribution these factors may have as causes of cancer health disparities.

Download Full-text

Perceptions of Care, Socio-Demographic Characteristics and Health Care Utilisation among Health Insurance users in Ghana

Journal of Social Sciences ◽

10.3844/jssp.2015.72.81 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 72-81

Author(s):

Seth Christopher Yaw Appiah

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Health Insurance ◽

Health Care Utilisation ◽

Demographic Characteristics ◽

Care Utilisation ◽

Perceptions Of Care

Download Full-text

Health-Care Workers’ Perception of Reimbursement for Complex Surgical Oncology Procedures

The American Surgeon ◽

10.1177/000313482008600234 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 86 (2) ◽

pp. 140-145

Author(s):

Shoshana Levi ◽

Emily Alberto ◽

Dakota Urban ◽

Nicholas Petrelli ◽

Gregory Tiesi

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Online Survey ◽

Surgical Oncology ◽

Patient Perceptions ◽

Cancer Center ◽

Physician Reimbursement ◽

Care Workers ◽

Before And After ◽

Fee Schedule

Perception of physician reimbursement for surgical procedures is not well studied. The few existing studies illustrate that patients believe compensation to be higher than in reality. These studies focus on patient perceptions and have not assessed health-care workers’ views. Our study examined health-care workers’ perception of reimbursement for complex surgical oncology procedures. An anonymous online survey was distributed to employees at our cancer center with descriptions and illustrations of three oncology procedures—hepatectomy, gastrectomy, and pancreaticoduodenectomy. Participants estimated the Medicare fee and gave their perceived value of each procedure. Participants recorded their perception of surgeon compensation overall, both before and after revealing the Medicare fee schedule. Most of the 113 participants were physicians (33.6%) and nurses (28.3%). When blinded to the Medicare fee schedules, most felt that reimbursements were too low for all procedures (60–64%) and that surgeons were overall undercompensated (57%). Value predictions for each procedure were discordant from actual Medicare fee schedules, with overestimates up to 374 per cent. After revealing the Medicare fee schedules, 55 per cent of respondents felt that surgeons were undercompensated. Even among health-care workers, a large discrepancy exists between perceived and actual reimbursement. Revealing actual reimbursements did not alter perception on overall surgeon compensation.

Download Full-text