Our healthcare system relies on the ability and knowledge of our employees to understand and effectively interact with diverse patients, including those from other cultures and belief systems.
Lack of cross-cultural competence reduces empathy and mistrust between patients and providers and can threaten misdiagnosis and even loss of life. The recently released documentary film Aftershock and new book Under the Skin explore the impact of perceived racism on the health and survival of people of color.
Racism can be defined as “the belief that different races have different characteristics, abilities, or qualities, particularly those that distinguish them as inferior or superior to each other.” These beliefs are embedded in the education and algorithms of medical practice.
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The lack of minority representation in health care professionals in our black and brown communities can be deadly for our members. I have to admit. Local-level policies can address situations impacting public health, with a focus on expanding access to quality health care.
Being able to understand, appreciate, and interact with people from different cultures and belief systems is an important component of communication. UF Health’s efforts help address these issues by contributing to the training of local healthcare workers.
Community Health Worker programs are already established across the United States and in Florida, with training supported by UF Health and certification provided by the Florida Certification Board. This accreditation recognizes that it is “as a liaison, link and intermediary between health services and communities in order to facilitate access to services, improve service quality and cultural competence through its trusted status in the community.” Intended for frontline healthcare workers who function. Delivery.”
Community health workers provide an important link between communities and health professionals. The Alachua County Board has decided to fund a training program for community health workers $250,000 annually over two years.
Grant Harrell, Ph.D., medical director of the UF Mobile Outreach Clinic and physician of UF Health Family Medicine, believes community health workers will make a “substantial change in how health care is delivered.”
As we work to establish quality, equitable health care, we are reminded that Alachua County remains one of the most racially unfair counties in Florida. A 2018 University of Florida Bureau of Economics and Business research report details Alachua County inequality statistics with the goal of setting a baseline against which to compare changes since then.
Dr. Laura Guyer of UF Health articulates the impact of racial disparities on the health of East Gainesville residents. The social determinants of health — defined by the World Health Organization as the conditions under which people are born, grow, live, work and age — are the underlying factors in these conditions.
Location is important. For example, West Gainesville has 29 full-time clinics and East Gainesville has only two clinics, using the main street that separates East and West Gainesville. In the next year or two he will build an emergency care center in northeast Gainesville by UF Health to help with urgent problems.
Other promising developments in East Gainesville, such as the Gainesville Empowerment Zone Family Learning Center, will allow us to invest in the process of educating a healthy new generation. In addition to addressing racial disparities and medical disparities in eastern Alachua County, we must encourage greater public health efforts and create more medical facilities, programs and social services.
As minorities continue to suffer in disproportionate proportions in Alachua County, we must address the public health crisis that affects each of us. Adequate medical facilities staffed by professionals sensitive to the impact of racism on healthcare are the goal.
The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan organization, believes that health policy goals should include equitable distribution of services and provision of care for all.
Jeffrey Shapiro chairs the Local Affairs Committee of the Alachua County League of Women Voters, Gigi Simmons is a member of Local Affairs and former Gainesville City Commissioner, and Janice Garry is president of the Alachua County League.
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