Racialization In Health Care Sociology

Over the past decades, Aboriginal people (the original people or indigenous occupants of a particular country), have been oppressed by the Canadian society and continue to live under racism resulting in gender/ class oppression. The history of Colonialism, and Capitalism has played a significant role in the construction and impact of how Aborignal people are treated and viewed presently in the Canadian society. The struggles, injustices, prejudice, and discrimination that have plagued Aboriginal peoples for more than three centuries are still grim realities today. The failures of Canada's racist policies toward Aboriginal peoples are reflected in the high levels of unemployment and poor education.

When discussing the Aboriginal quality of life within Canada there are several issues that come to mind, such as health, education, housing and our Canadian-Indigenous relationship (First Ministers And National Aboriginal Leaders, 2005, p. 1). However, many times Canadians neglect to distinguish the root of the issue. While residential schools may be addressed and looked upon historically, the traumas and effects are still particularly palpable for many Indigenous communities. For this reason, it is significant for Canadians to be empathetic towards the underlying issues, for obstacles like Indigenous health to be properly handled. Within this essay, I create an awareness of the impacts of assimilation tactics to Aboriginal communities;

Healthcare disparities have been an issue all over the world for a very long time. The purpose of this paper is to give you knowledge on disparities within the health care environment. This paper will discuss the definition of disparities, types of disparities, reasons for disparities, statistical data from trends and reports, and information on disparities elimination and improvements.

One of the biggest barriers facing Aboriginals is that the government does not consider health an Aboriginal right, and instead endorse that a special relationship exists between themselves and the First Nations people regarding health (Adelson, 2005). Aboriginal people regularly have negative experiences within the Canadian health care system since they have been marginalized and oppressed from the dominant system of care due to centuries of injustice (Hole et al.,

Healthcare diversities among healthcare professionals have been a challenge within the healthcare system. There are various publications that state that the underrepresented minorities have a higher chance of not graduating medical school, accruing high student loans, and ultimately were unsatisfied with their jobs (Pololi et al., 2013). This is not only disturbing, but this represents the individuals who are or will be servicing the public on a daily basis. As the population increases, racial differences increase, so to combat these disparities cultural competencies have to come into play within the health-professions workforce. For instance, although African Americans constitute to 13% of the population, in the physician workforce they only account for 4%, also women who are part of the workforce outweigh the amount of men by at least 4%, respectively (U.S. Census Bureau, 2014). Coincidentally, whites make up to 49% (both men and women) of the total U.S. MD active physicians based on the labor workforce statistics of 2013.

Medical researcher, Dr. Leonard Egede, wrote "Race, Ethnicity, culture and disparities in healthcare," published in June of 2006 in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. He explains that patients of minority ethnicity experience greater morbidity and mortality from different chronic diseases than non- minorities. In his article, minority patients are more vulnerable populations and include groups that do not receive health care services. According to Dr. Egede, the Institution of Medicine (IOM) racial and ethnic disparities still exist in health care, since they are connected with worse outcomes in many cases, are not acceptable. Also, IOM reports that there are some interesting views in regard to comprehending and recognizing the sources of disparities, assisting factors, planning and measuring effective interventions to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health care. The role of IOM is significant because it provides suggestions and directs the importance of data collection that impacts

It is the assumption of many that Canada is a nation free of racism. Canadians pride themselves on being culturally diverse and accepting, and on having relatively progressive social policies such as that of universal healthcare. However, there are many ways in which the current and historical policies have expressed explicit racism that have left an already marginalized population with the crumbs of society. A prime example of this can be demonstrated in the mass overrepresentation of Aboriginal youth in care. By the year 2010, there were around twenty-seven thousand Indigenous children in the Canadian child welfare system who were living in some sort of out-of-home care (Chappell, 2014). Although they represented only seven percent of the children in Canada, they made up 48 percent of all children in foster care. (Yukselir & Annett, 2016). This phenomenon is not a recent trend, as it has been occurring since the very creation of modern child welfare in Canada as it is known, and it has its roots deep in Canadian history. This paper will demonstrate a timeline of the events which have lead to this phenomenon in Canada, specifically focusing on the province of Ontario. Important facts which may have contributed to the overrepresentation of this population will be discussed, such as historical methods of colonization in regards to child welfare including the implementation of the residential school system and the Sixties Scoop. Policies that have also had a profound impact,

Beatty and Berdahl point out that policymakers and researchers have not paid enough attention to Abriginal seniors’ health care needs. Both authors seek to understand what health care challenges Aboriginal seniors face in Canada what policy methodologies are required to increase the wellbeing and health of Aboriginal seniors in order for them have a better quality of life and respect their culture and needs. Therefore, the authors suggest that policymakers should include four factors to take in considerations: socioeconomic situation, jurisdiction, underutilization of health services available in urban context and elder abuse.

The primary care provider needs to consider the patient 's race and ethnic group when treating diabetes and discussing health issues such as obesity. Literature reveals that certain ethnic groups respond better to selected medications, like the drug Metformin, in the treatment of diabetes (Woo & Wynne, 2013 p. 1096-97). Thus, the caregiver must be knowledgeable about all medications used in the treatment of diabetes. Asking the patient both direct and open-end questions during the assessment helps the provider gain vital information about the patients’ health history. As a result, this information will help lead the provider in the individualized teaching of the patient and creating the right treatment plan. Additionally, gaining trust in the patient is a significant step in successful collaboration between the patient and their care provider

Aboriginal women’s health and wellness issues are present in Canadian society today. When reading, reviewing, and contemplating the information found in the first four units, it sheds an Aboriginal prospective on past and current events. A comparison between pre and post western European colonization highlights the differences between two different times. Colonization was the starting point of the decline of Aboriginal women’s health and wellness; physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, psychological and social wellbeing. Social oppression of the Aboriginal people was the cause and effect that brought forward self harming behaviours, domestic violence, and unhealthy life style choices.

I see a connection between the information presented in the TED Talk, "The Problem with Race-Based Medicine" and the ongoing on issue of the lower quality of health insurance or life insurance for individuals who identify as African-American in the United Sates, due to the racial stereotypes of the health of African-Americans.

There are many people who say that we are living in a post racial society in the United States today and there are aspects of life in which that seems to be true. Yet there are many areas of life however in which race still is an important divider that has a major impact on the experiences of the minority peoples in the United States. In 2010, about 41% of the U.S. population identified themselves as members of racial or ethnic minority groups. According to the Centers for Disease Control, compared to non-minorities, some minorities experience a disproportionate level of preventable disease, death and disability (. http://www.cdc.gov/minorityhealth/populations/remp.html ).

On the topics of racism, oppression, and Aboriginal issues I have chosen the articles “The Complexity of Identity” and “Stolen Sisters, Second Class Citizens” to reflect on. Racism is based on one's perspective of another’s race or ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, age and physical or mental ability. Aboriginal women are at a higher risk to be subject to oppression than any other non-Aboriginal women. Aboriginal women also face the highest poverty rates in Canada.

In Canada, our people of aboriginal descent are regularly stereotyped and viewed as second-class citizens who are “lesser” in many ways than the non-aboriginal people in social standing. This view leads people to continue to treat the indigenous very poorly. There are ways to try to repair these inaccuracies that non-aboriginal people believe, but it will take a concentrated effort for everyone to understand and work together.

Racialization and prejudice operate in health care and when it comes to Aboriginal women, this social inequality can be studied starting at primary care. Defined as the care of first-contact with a medical professional about a health problem, this field is regulated under the Canadian Health Act of 1984. The Act also states that every Canadian is eligible to choose their own primary care family doctor since their service charges is covered at the provincial and federal government level. (Hutchison et al., 2011) Even though reserve communities are funded at the federal level, for Aboriginal women on-reserve, this “choice” does not come with variety; and often primary care of treatment by a family doctor can involve situations of discrimination and judgement based on their race, class, and gender (Hutchison et al., 2011). The qualitative study interviewing Aboriginal women and documenting their experiences of primary health care on-reserve sites in northwestern Canada, found that many of the population’s health concerns were not taken seriously and often dismissed by their health care providers. Women of the older generation especially, often did not have a covet to form a patient-physician relationship in order to express their health problems, stating that this was what was taught by their teachers in residential schools in the past. Some also mentioned that the need to show their card of Aboriginal identity when accessing primary care services, such as the dentistry or