COVID-19 amplifies health disparities

"The daily email update on COVID-19 affecting our hospital system is a glaring reflection of the health disparities amongst those in marginalized groups. The farther south you go, generally in San Diego, the higher the number of socioeconomically disadvantaged persons, and that tends to include a disproportionate number of persons of color. These populations may be unable to physically distance due to living conditions and job conditions. Perhaps there is a higher number of persons living together per household, in a smaller space, along with the inability to work from home. And the mortality rates of those from COVID-19 amongst these persons is higher than white counterparts. Sometimes there is an inherent distrust in the medical system. COVID-19 and racism intersect. However, this is not a unique situation in health care—many chronic illnesses portend worse outcomes for those in marginalized groups. Marginalization means just that: glaringly apparent in health outcomes and socioeconomic disparities."

Ni-Cheng Liang is a pulmonary physician and founder, the Mindful Healthcare Collective.

She shares her story and discuss her KevinMD article, "COVID-19 becomes a magnifying glass for health disparities." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/07/covid-19-becomes-a-magnifying-glass-for-health-disparities.html)

Resources mentioned in the show:

Implicit bias test: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html Health Disparities Widget: https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/data-search/health-disparities-data/health-disparities-widget Strategies for Reducing Health Disparities: https://www.cdc.gov/minorityhealth/strategies2016/index.html Conscious Anti-Racism: https://www.jillwener.com/consciousantiracism