Why Culturally Competent Care for Women of Color Matters

Research shows that Black women and other women of color experience the worst health outcomes of any group in the United States — regardless of income level. On The Dose podcast this week, host Joel Bervell talks to public health innovator Ashlee Wisdom, founder of a digital platform that connects women of color to culturally competent health care providers.

Black people make up 13 percent of the U.S. population but less than 6 percent of physicians, making it difficult for Black patients to connect with Black doctors. As Wisdom, founder of Health in Her HUE, explains, technology can be a tool for bridging that access gap until the physician workforce becomes more diverse. A new focus, she says, is fibroids, an oft-misdiagnosed condition in Black women that can lead to referrals for invasive interventions like hysterectomies.

The health care system, Wisdom says, is starting to put things in place. "We're seeing people shift away from the status quo and think about ways that they can learn how to provide culturally competent care."