Not Acknowledging Differences Makes Minorities Sicker
Take four patients in New York City–one white, one black, one Asian, and one Hispanic–all in need of surgery, with the same insurance coverage and in similar overall health. A study published in this month’s issue of Archives of Surgery concludes that the white patient’s chance of surgical success will be higher. According to the authors,
Minority patients in New York City are doubly disadvantaged in their surgical care; they are substantially less likely to use both high-volume hospitals and surgeons for procedures with an established volume-mortality association.
Why would ethnic minorities with the same insurance coverage as whites be less likely to choose hospitals and surgeons with the best track records? The study calls for further inquiries into how minority patients select health care providers. But one answer seems to be that minorities have trouble accessing information about health care options–a problem not only for the patients themselves, but for the employers who often end up paying higher health costs in the long run as a result.
This study bears witness to my argument in The Inclusion Paradox that when it comes to helping employees use job benefits such as health care, we need to get past the one-size-fits-all mentality that’s grounded in the views and preferences of the majority group. There I discuss how not integrating minority worldviews and communication styles into what’s said and read at work can leave minority employees without an adequate understanding of their options–and how diversifying workplace communication can better reach members of the majority as well.
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very valid point. for budgetary reasons, most companies choose not to translate their communication or to offer their online information in multiple languages. they also do not go a more low-tech way of providing “translation buddies” to help employees understand and grapple with information and meaning. while they believe they’re saving money on this, how much are they spending on poor health care choices and understanding?
i’ve been struggling with a recent study that found companies are increasingly irritated (and i truly think it’s irritation) with the lack of engagement employees have with their health. the fact that we as individuals do not engage in our health until there is a crisis is, in fact, a universal problem, as attested to in books like “the decision tree,” and one certainly not helped when we put up additional barriers to understanding and control such as the communication ones you address here.
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