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Day 12 – Rebuilding Trust
The past two days, we have looked at several ways that the black community has been mistreated, used, and taken advantage of in healthcare. For hundreds of years there have been several reasons to distrust the government, and healthcare. Many of these issues have come to light in the last few decades, and reparations have been attempted for some of them. How do we move forward from this dark and dangerous history? Black people still visit the doctor at lower rates than whites and trust with the healthcare system is at an all-time low. What needs to be done to rebuild the trust after centuries of mistrust?
We already took the first step the last three days in learning about and acknowledging the dark history of health in America. We are understanding where mistrust stems from and using our knowledge to build a better future.
Read this Hill article about how historical healthcare crimes have contributed to low trust among African Americans.
Building trust is one thing, but we would be mistaken if we did not acknowledge the lack of representation in healthcare. The national average for black residents in hospitals in American is 6%. At our very own Cleveland Clinic the percentage of black residents is 3%.
How can you be a part of a more inclusive healthcare future?
After you reflect on trust in healthcare, tell us: Why did you choose to go to school at Lincoln-West School of Science and Health? You can share your responses with us @LWScienceHealth on Instagram.
Want to dive deeper into the material? Links to all materials can be found at tinyurl.com/LWSHChallenge.
