Causes of Racial Inequity in Healthcare

Overview

The second course of the Addressing Racial Health Inequity in Healthcare specialization you will journey through a survey of critical drivers of racial inequities in healthcare. These critical drivers need to be known in order to implement interventions that can achieve health equity. You will explore issues that arise around the financing of healthcare in the U.S, and how this system enables race-based disparities. You will then explore the multiple dimensions of access to care, and how various dimensions perpetuate racial inequities in care. You will also discuss the historical backdrop of mistreatment in healthcare settings that remains pervasive among racial groups. And finally, you will unpack implicit bias and how these biases influence diagnosis and treatment patterns among different racial groups.

Syllabus

Week 1 | Financing of Healthcare

Welcome to Causes of Racial Inequity in Healthcare! This week, we will learn about how financing in the U.S. healthcare system works, how public health insurance systems are administered, and how these systems contribute to racial health inequities. We will examine this through insurance systems and hospitals. The many different insurance systems and hospital systems and how they connect financially are actually complex web.

Week 2 | Issues of Access to Care and Healthcare Disparities

This week, we will learn about what access to care actually means. To fully address healthcare access, there must be an effort to improve different areas to access. We will also examine the role of geography and place as it relates to racial inequities in healthcare.

Week 3 | Mistreatment of Racial/Ethnic Groups

This week, we will learn about the long history of mistreatment of racial/ethnic groups in healthcare settings and in advancing biomedical innovation and understand why mistreatment is a cause of racial inequity in healthcare vs. the concept of mistrust.

Week 4 | The Role of Race in the Practice of Medicine

Race and racism show up in many aspects of healthcare and the practice of medicine. This week, we will examine modern-day racism and discrimination and how this shows up in healthcare. We will also examine the sources of where racial equity begins to show up in medicine through mechanisms of diagnosis and treatment patterns.

Week 5 | Implicit Bias in Healthcare Treatment

Prejudice and discrimination are not only conscious but also show up in society and healthcare through unconscious means. This week, we will take a deep dive into implicit bias, and how it impacts the practice of medicine.