October 8th 2023.
A new study conducted by UCLA reveals the potential of critical education to counter attitudes related to medical racism. In the study, white people were exposed to different history lessons about Black people.
Medical Economics reported that the group exposed to a critical reading of the history of Black people’s experience in the medical field were more likely to point out racist treatment when they saw it. This happened regardless of whether they had to imagine themselves as Black people experiencing that discrimination. The study highlighted the case of Fannie Lou Hamer, a Civil Rights Movement activist who had an unconsented hysterectomy performed on her while she was only supposed to get a tumor removed. This practice was disproportionately conducted on Black women during that time period.
The second group was exposed to a celebratory history, which focused on achievements in the medical field, such as Dr. Patricia Bath, who pioneered laser cataract surgery. The third group, the study’s control group, was shown images of Black people without historical context.
After the history lessons, researchers asked all participants about their level of support for policies that would reduce racism and health discrimination in the American healthcare system. It was found that both the first two groups were much more likely to support progressive healthcare policies, and were more able to recognize that individual and systemic racism exists in the medical field.
Kerri Johnson, a professor of social psychology and communication at UCLA and the study’s senior author, discussed the impact of the findings. “The findings have far-reaching impacts toward creating an anti-racist society and a health care system that treats patients more equitably,” Johnson said.
Dr. Kimberly Martin, a postdoctoral scholar at Yale and Johnson’s research partner, expressed the focus of their work as creating ways to fight medical racism. “There is overwhelming evidence of the existence of racism in health care and the persistence of stereotypes, but with our work, we aim to demonstrate that there could be ways to intervene, reduce discrimination, and create more equitable health care outcomes,” Martin clarified.
Though the participants were able to recognize instances of racism in the healthcare field, and advocate for more equitable policies, the findings showed that they could not escape a racist attitude themselves. The participants still erroneously believed that Black people have a higher threshold for pain. Despite this, Martin is hopeful that an accurate account of the historical context of Black people and the medical field will help create a more equitable and just society.
“Efforts to silence stories of oppression,” Martin said, “rob people of the opportunity to gain insights and perspective, particularly about oppressed people. Our evidence suggests that with the study of an accurate history of injustice comes increased perspective-taking and broader support for a more equitable, just society.”
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