11/07/2025
HEALTHCARE DISPARITIES
Yesterday, I sustained a significant injury to my toe. Not only is there a fracture, the joint is dislocated and there is tendon involvement. Now for that to happen, there was significant force when I hit the baseboard in my kitchen and as anyone of you can imagine, there has been quite a bit of pain.
I was seen at an Urgent Care and was handled with care and professionalism, however no one ever addressed my pain. I was not asked to rate my pain and never offered a Tylenol, Ibuprofen or anything while I was there.
Did you know in healthcare African American pain is something that is never addressed? Did you know there are many articles where physicians have admitted to undermedicating or never medicating people of color?
Pain is not addressed in African Americans due to a combination of things including historical, healthcare provider bias, systemic inequities and some cultural factors.
All of these things have resulted in inadequate pain assessment and treatment.
As an African American Provider, this happened to me. I was not exempt from being treated as if I have no feelings and there was no way I could be experiencing pain. This broke my heart! I have read these articles regarding healthcare disparities for years, however to experience it was another thing.
I have always considered myself as part of the solution to racial healthcare disparities and being here to help take care of African Americans so they can feel as if they are heard and treated fairly.
This is a call to action to my colleagues who are taking care of patients for us to do better. We can not be a part of the problem, but we must be actively working towards the solution.
The solution is to treat everyone as you would want to be treated. Provide exceptional care, despite race, color, ethnicity, age.
Show the heart of Christ as you practice and work towards being the change in healthcare.