SOC263 Research Paper_ (3)

.pdf

School

University of Toronto *

*We aren’t endorsed by this school

Course

263

Subject

Sociology

Date

Feb 20, 2024

Type

pdf

Pages

Uploaded by meekaalkhan83

Effects of Healthcare Policies On Minority Groups: A Research Study Meekaal Khan Student #: 1005235764 Department Of Sociology, University of Toronto Mississauga SOC263 : Social Inequality Professor Kayla Preston December 7th 2022

When we think of Healthcare, we assume for it to be universally attainable for all despite their status. In an ideal society, there should be no discrepancies in the quality of care presented before patients regardless of their race or ethnicity. However, the harsh reality is the Healthcare system steers away from this narrative through supplying more resources and placing higher priority on Majority groups compared to Minority groups. It’s this widespread negative notion which not only enforces subtle, yet overt discriminatory practices for Minorities overtime, but also solidifies the existence of social inequities within our healthcare systems. This paper will analyze the following research question: How have Healthcare policies shaped the experiences of ethnic minorities in Healthcare settings?. I will argue that Healthcare policies have promoted inequities in healthcare settings for minorities, ultimately placing them at a constant social disadvantage. They do so in three ways: Firstly, through emphasizing racial biases on them to govern a racial hierarchy on how medical care is distributed. In addition, through treating language/cultural barriers as a means to limit access to effective treatment options & medical procedures for them. Finally, by promoting disproportionate Social power based relations between minority and majority groups due to their racial/ethnic differences. To begin, social inequities can be attributed to the way healthcare providers/ policymakers carry preconceived racial biases to form racial/ ethnic disparities among minority groups. In general, minorities tend to have several racialized interactions from patient-provider relationships, which in turn impact sociopolitical dynamics for them. A 15 IAT longitudinal with a mixed sample of both patient & healthcare providers measured for racial bias with black people and Hispanic/Latinx people in comparison to white people in the US when it came to

experiences and priority of access to treatments. Racialized subjects reported to experience more racial biases compared to non-racialized subjects. The racial bias stretched “among many health care providers of different specialties, levels of training, and levels of experience, with all levels of implicit bias being relatively negative” (Hall et al., 2015). It’s from these biases which led racialized subjects to report to have a lack of trust in patient-provider relationships, and formed more negative behaviours associated with their own health status. We can attribute this disproportionate racial hierarchy in healthcare system for minorities with social/racial contracts. With social contracts, they serve as a reminder that racial violations are what heavily motivates the terms of these contracts. The way policies/reforms were formed varied depending on how different policymakers“ viewed the state of human nature, and the internal logic of sociopolitical systems”(Mills, 2014). For the most part, policymakers follow an exploitative, unjust framework to their social understanding, and work towards personal/financial profit, rarely accounting for morality behind their actions. In a sense, these social contracts look at forcing the public to understand/conform to the rationalization behind government beliefs, and values. All of these beliefs which are heavily rooted in oppression and building social inequities. Additionally, Social contracts have now been reshaped into the healthcare industries in the form of racial/ implicit biases, with the way treatment is being dispersed. For most Healthcare policymakers, they view stereotypical identities for different races as indicators for how medical care/quality of care is allocated within society. Minority groups are deemed outsiders with lower socioeconomic status, and poorer housing conditions, and automatically assume because of these factors, they can’t afford means of payment for their treatment, and pushed to a lower priority status. However, when majority groups are in the picture, they are inclined to more privilege

seen as higher SES group, who have stronger connection networks to being supplied more effective treatment options. Additionally, Healthcare policies have been capitalizing off cultural barriers amongst minorities through limiting access to treatment/ medical procedures for them. For instance, Scholars examined language/cultural barriers for minorities, and seeing dominant culture effect on access to treatment for them. A study done amongst Chinese Canadian-Canadian immigrant patients reported for the most common/prevalent barrier to be the “lack of access and utilization of translators, or healthcare providers which spoke the same language, or understood cultural differences” (Lai et al., 2007). This in turn promoted another communication issue, insinuating for there to be a lack of cultural competence for patient interactions. Healthcare users were not taken seriously, and had been limited of their quality of care, from longer wait times, to improper medical treatments being prescribed to patients. From this lack of consideration for minority groups, it is apparent there are clear tones of prejudice and discrimination in place. Long term, this can only lead to patient’s forming negative associations with healthcare providers, and affect patient’s willingness to return or seek care from Healthcare systems again, after being constantly undermined. We can connect these negative experiences from Chinese Canadian Immigrants back to the way Black Women are submitted to constant abuse, and inhumane treatment in healthcare systems due to society’s misconstrued perspective on black culture. Throughout time, Society has dehumanized black women to be anything but their own selves, categorizing them to common racialized stereotypes. In a report by Amnesty International, a woman spoke about her

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

Recommended textbooks for you

Social Psychology (10th Edition)

Sociology

ISBN:9780134641287

Author:Elliot Aronson, Timothy D. Wilson, Robin M. Akert, Samuel R. Sommers

Publisher:Pearson College Div

Introduction to Sociology (Eleventh Edition)

Sociology

ISBN:9780393639407

Author:Deborah Carr, Anthony Giddens, Mitchell Duneier, Richard P. Appelbaum

Publisher:W. W. Norton & Company

The Basics of Social Research (MindTap Course Lis...

Sociology

ISBN:9781305503076

Author:Earl R. Babbie

Publisher:Cengage Learning

Criminalistics: An Introduction to Forensic Scien...

Sociology

ISBN:9780134477596

Author:Saferstein, Richard

Publisher:PEARSON

Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach (13th Edition)

Sociology

ISBN:9780134205571

Author:James M. Henslin

Publisher:PEARSON

Society: The Basics (14th Edition)

Sociology

ISBN:9780134206325

Author:John J. Macionis

Publisher:PEARSON

SEE MORE TEXTBOOKS

Recommended textbooks for you

Social Psychology (10th Edition)
Sociology
ISBN:9780134641287
Author:Elliot Aronson, Timothy D. Wilson, Robin M. Akert, Samuel R. Sommers
Publisher:Pearson College Div
Introduction to Sociology (Eleventh Edition)
Sociology
ISBN:9780393639407
Author:Deborah Carr, Anthony Giddens, Mitchell Duneier, Richard P. Appelbaum
Publisher:W. W. Norton & Company
The Basics of Social Research (MindTap Course Lis...
Sociology
ISBN:9781305503076
Author:Earl R. Babbie
Publisher:Cengage Learning
Criminalistics: An Introduction to Forensic Scien...
Sociology
ISBN:9780134477596
Author:Saferstein, Richard
Publisher:PEARSON
Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach (13th Edition)
Sociology
ISBN:9780134205571
Author:James M. Henslin
Publisher:PEARSON
Society: The Basics (14th Edition)
Sociology
ISBN:9780134206325
Author:John J. Macionis
Publisher:PEARSON