Black women have a higher hospital mortality rate than other demographic groups, a serious medical issue. Black women had a greater incidence of chronic diseases and maternal mortality than white women (Singh 31). This difference has lasted decades. Additionally, healthcare inequities like lower quality care and unconscious bias by healthcare providers are more likely. This study paper investigates the causes of these death rate disparities and proposes ways to improve black women’s health and lower hospital mortality rates. This issue affects black women, their families, the economy, and society. This must be addressed to improve medical care for all races and ethnicities.
Black women have always faced health challenges. Since slavery, when they were considered property, black women have faced more discrimination and social inequity. These factors have harmed black women’s health. Black women were utilized in medical experiments without consent, making them distrust the healthcare system. Black women, particularly rural ones who cannot afford medical care, have less access to high-quality medical care than white women. Even with healthcare, black women had higher inpatient death rates after adjusting for age, socioeconomic status, and population health. Black women’s healthcare outcomes are a major public health issue that needs systemic change. Understanding the root causes of these inequalities—institutional racism and implicit medical prejudice—is crucial. Black women may get delayed or inadequate healthcare due to these stereotypes. To eliminate these discrepancies, the healthcare business must promote awareness of implicit bias, provide cultural competency training for practitioners, and start community-based healthcare projects.
Everyone, including rural residents, must have fair access to high-quality medical care. Even when comparing black women to other populations. This imbalance is caused by implicit bias, poor doctor-patient communication, and a lack of cultural competency training.
Black women’s hospital fatalities are alarming. A recent study shows that pregnant black women have a three- to four-fold greater risk of mortality than pregnant white women. Black women in hospitals die more avoidably than other women (Mary Kathryn Abel et al. 473). These inequalities stem from poverty, medical constraints, and institutional racism. Institutional racism refers to racism in healthcare systems’ culture, policy, and practices. Implicit racism may also affect black women’s healthcare—individuals’ implicit views of certain groups. Healthcare personnel may unwittingly treat black women poorly due to their biases. Healthcare disparities for black women are also caused by poor doctor-patient communication. Healthcare personnel may misdiagnose or treat patients if they don’t listen. Many black women cannot afford medical care or live in areas with inadequate medical services. Addressing these gaps requires addressing institutional racism and unconscious bias in healthcare facilities. Cultural competency training for healthcare professionals, increasing diversity in healthcare organizations, and ensuring equitable access to high-quality medical treatment may achieve this aim.
Black women’s mortality inequalities affect their physical, emotional, and family well-being. Because black women have bigger children than white mothers, losing a loved one may cause long-term mental health issues, including despair and anxiety. The remaining family members may struggle financially due to rising medical costs and lost income. Black women’s death rates affect the economy. Medical malpractice lawsuits may increase the cost of treatment for hospital patients who die from preventable causes. Healthcare for patients who die needlessly in hospitals is quite expensive. Premature deaths can reduce production and revenue, which may hurt an economy. It’s crucial to recognize how black women’s death rates have affected their lives and find answers to the underlying causes. It’s also important to discuss how black women’s mortality rates have affected others. We can enhance black women’s health and hospital mortality rates by implementing change strategies and increasing access to high-quality medical care.
We must use many change techniques to reduce mortality disparities for black women. Implicit bias awareness in medicine is the first step to lowering healthcare inequities. Healthcare personnel should be educated on implicit bias to reduce prejudice’s impact on patient care. Healthcare workers need cultural competency training to change. Artistic competency training may help healthcare staff, especially black women, understand and respect numerous groups’ values, beliefs, and practices. This training may assist doctors in recognizing black women’s culture. This might enhance black women’s health and remove treatment disparities. Black women need more health information and resources. Healthy living, preventative care, and the importance of medical treatment may be covered. Access to good dining options and medical transportation may also benefit health. To lower black women’s mortality rates, high-quality medical treatment for everybody is needed. This may involve improving healthcare facilities in underprivileged areas and providing affordable health insurance. Addressing poverty, housing, and education may also improve health outcomes. The transformation strategy must also fund local healthcare delivery improvements. Community-based healthcare initiatives may help poor communities get treatment and adopt healthy practices. Working with community organizations and healthcare experts will help lower black women’s mortality rates.
Several effective interventions have been implemented to address black women’s mortality disparities. Perinatal safety bundles, which are standardized procedures and practices to improve pregnant women’s care, are one such strategy (Luan et al.) 603. Perinatal safety bundles have defined processes. These bundles may reduce maternal mortality and improve black women’s health. Another successful transformation strategy is community-based doula programs that provide culturally appropriate assistance to pregnant women and their families. These interventions reduce preterm births, enhance outcomes, and improve black women’s treatment satisfaction. These strategies have reduced maternal mortality and improved black neonatal health. These treatments have also improved healthcare personnel’s attitudes and conduct toward black women, reducing implicit prejudice’s effect on healthcare. Successful interventions demonstrate the importance of cultural competence, community involvement, and healthcare practitioner-community group cooperation. By first understanding the cultural and social factors affecting black women’s health, we may find solutions to mortality rate disparities.
In conclusion, this study has shown that hospitalized black women had higher death rates, highlighting the need for effective treatments. We examined black women’s health history, healthcare injustices, and their effects on people, families, and society. Successful interventions and tactics for change included learning about unconscious prejudice in the healthcare profession, educating healthcare workers on cultural competence, and participating in community-based healthcare activities. Finding a remedy to black women’s death rates should be a priority. We must keep educating people about these disparities and their effects on individuals and society. These inequities affect the US and other nations. We must work together to address the root causes of healthcare disparities and promote healthcare justice. This requires teamwork. Change efforts will improve black women’s health and reduce hospital mortality disparities. We must build a fair, just, and functional healthcare system now.
Works Cited
Luan, Hang-Hang, et al. “Historical Trends in Incidence of Breast Cancer in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Los Angeles, 1973–2012: A Joinpoint and Age-Period-Cohort Analysis.” International Journal of Public Health, vol. 66, 17 Mar. 2021, www.ssph-journal.org/articles/10.3389/ijph.2021.603810/full, https://doi.org/10.3389/ijph.2021.603810. Accessed 28 Apr. 2023.
Mary Kathryn Abel et al. “Racial Disparities in High-Risk Uterine Cancer Histologic Subtypes: A United States Cancer Statistics Study.” Gynecologic Oncology, vol. 161, no. 2, 1 May 2021, pp. 470–476, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0090825821001979, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ygyno.2021.02.037. It was accessed on 28 Apr. 2023.
Singh, Gurpreet. “Trends and Social Inequalities in Maternal Mortality in the United States, 1969-2018.” International Journal of MCH and AIDS, vol. 10, no. 1, 30 Dec. 2020, pp. 29–42, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7792749/, https://doi.org/10.21106/ijma.444. Accessed 28 Apr. 2023.
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