Headlines hit last summer about Black nursing home residents being neglected and left unbathed, without clothing, and sometimes without the medications they needed at an Alabama nursing home after. What it outlined was an allegedly discriminatory environment at a facility toward both patients and staff, who were called “n****,” “slave girls” and “little Black girls.”
Racism is a barrier to high quality, equitable care, advocates say. It seeps into misdiagnosis, symptom dismissal, and delayed care, which in turn contribute to myriad health disparities that are disproportionately burdening Black Americans, like high risk for There’s also a generational divide between health care workers and how they view discrimination in the workplace. Those ages 18 to 39 were much more likely than those over 40 to say racism against patients was a major problem or crisis. In addition, nearly 70% of mental health care workers said the same, indicating that a worker’s specialty also plays a role in perceptions.