Are Racial Biases Infecting Doctor’s Offices?

March 20, 2012
Written by Janice S. Ellis... in
Focus on Health, Latest News
Please rate this article
Research shows that some white doctors do have racial biases that affect the healthcare they provide to their patients. Photo Credit: mylifestylediet.com

Misperceptions, attitudes, biases, and stereotypes about race, whether consciously or subconsciously have a negative impact on the doctor-patient relationship and therefore could adversely affect the quality of healthcare provided and corresponding outcomes.


The findings of a new study, just released by Johns Hopkins Medicine, provide evidence that racial biases and stereotypical views, whether overt or not, influence what and how a doctor delivers healthcare. There is also evidence that such prejudicial attitudes could be a direct cause of the disparities among races perpetuated in healthcare settings across the United States.


Published in the American Journal of Public Health, the lead researcher in the study, Dr. Lisa Cooper, notes, “If patients have good patient-centered interactions with their doctors, we know they’re more likely to follow through with care, make follow-up appointments and better control diseases such as diabetes and depression. This study suggests that unconscious racial attitudes may be standing in the way of positive interactions to the detriment of patient health.”


What is really compelling about the findings of the study is that it was conducted with primary care physicians and patients who knew each other well and had a relationship over time. The physicians agreed to participate in the study to improve the care provided to African-American patients, and were willing to take pretests to determine racial biases and to have subsequent patient visits recorded.


The findings are concerning. Researchers found that white and Asians physicians held more positive attitudes toward white patients than black patients when it comes to who is more compliant with medical advice. Black physicians had more neutral attitudes.


Researchers also found evidence of a direct correlation between racial attitudes, communication during a visit, and the patient’s perception of the quality of their experience during the visit. Primary care physicians with racial biases or stereotypical views tended to talk more than listen during the visit with a black patient; and tended to spend less time addressing the emotional and psychological aspects of the illness and any treatment challenges that patient might be having.


As a result, black patients often leave their doctor’s offices feeling disrespected, having lower levels of trust and confidence in their physician, and feeling they are not involved in their treatment options or decisions.


The researchers acknowledge that progress has been made in society generally when it comes to being more open to and accepting of different races and ethnicities. ‘But we have subconscious bias that we develop from our earliest experiences and are less subject to social pressures,” says Dr. Cooper.


But Johns Hopkins, Dr. Cooper, and the team of researchers, the participating primary care physicians, and their patients should be commended for their willingness to confront the issue of overt and subliminal racial attitudes and biases. Being willing to face those negative realities is the first step to making necessary improvements that can bring about needed change on everyone’s part.


Achieving the best health outcomes, after all, is what the patient and doctor hold in common irrespective of race or ethnicity. Dr. Cooper poignantly captures it when she says, “If we are more aware of how our attitudes are affecting our behaviors, only then can we change what we do and ensure that all of our patients get the best care.”


Many other professions could learn a lesson from this study.


 

Tags:
Focus on Health, Latest News

Comments

race relations

Submitted by SBU-27S2012 on

I think that there should not be race in a doctors office. This is a place where people should be able to trust their doctors with their health and not have to worry about being mistreated. This needs to be stop now and make people of different races feel comfortable in doctors offices.