Don’t Uphold Poor Standards
I think a really good article to check out is the "Addressing Unequal Treatment: Disparities in Healthcare" by Gillian K. Steelfisher of The Common Wealth Fund. It hits a lot of the same points as the National Healthcare Disparities Report, but it also provides some insight as to what is being done to change and what more can be done to change health care service disparities. From everything previously mentioned, it can basically be summed up by saying health care disparities do in fact exist. Disparities can be seen anywhere related to age, sex, race, religion, etc. It is indeed not a myth. But what are we doing about it?
In addition to the disparities, listening to some health care providers I occasionally hear disheartening remarks about their patients-whether it's a discussion about the crabby old man, etc.-but how many of us think to ask why he is crabby? Sometimes we get so caught up in our own lives that we forget to think about the situation the patient is in. They are the ones who are sick, in the hospital, injured, etc. I too have been guilty of it, and had to turn and "check" myself.
Sometimes thinking about all of the negativities that surround the health care system, I question my ability to uphold the poor standards that it maintains. Then I realize that maybe I'm here so that I can change it, because I shouldn't uphold poor standards! None of us should.