Ruqaiijah Yearby Reviews Structural Racism in US Health Care Policy

"Members of racial and ethnic minority groups have long suffered from health inequities in the United States. These inequities result, in large part, from racial and ethnic minority populations' inequitable access to health care, which persists because of structural racism in health care policy.

Racism includes a complex array of social structures, interpersonal interactions, and beliefs by which the group in power categorizes people into socially constructed 'races' and creates a racial hierarchy in which racial and ethnic minority groups are disempowered, devalued, and denied equal access to resources."

These words come from the opening paragraphs of one of four overview papers in the February 2022 issue of Health Affairs, an issue devoted entirely to the topic of racism and health.

Ruqaiijah Yearby from Saint Louis University joins the A Health Podyssey to discuss how structural racism is embedded in US health policy.

Yearby and coauthors describe structural racism within the US health care policy today and in the past. Structural racism has created a tiered system of care with racial and ethnic minority groups experiencing poorer access and lower quality care than White Americans.

If you enjoy this interview, order the February 2022 Health Affairs Racism and Health theme issue.

Listen to Health Affairs Pathways.

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