Drawing Connections

One reason for African Americans being discriminated against in the healthcare field is because oftentimes people in this demographic do not trust it. In fact, a study performed by Katrina Armstrong et. Al on February 11, 2014 showed that, “In unadjusted analyses, African Americans had higher levels of HCSD [health care system distrust], particularly values distrust, and greater experiences of discrimination. Experience of discrimination was also strongly associated with HCSD” (Armstrong et. Al). From this study, one might assume that African Americans have trouble finding a reliable doctor or any health care practitioner. However, Armstrong et. Al later reveal that racial residential segregation could also be the cause. According to Armstrong et. Al, “Racial residential segregation (i.e. the degree to which racial groups are distributed evenly across a large area) has been hypothesized to influence distrust by concentrating disadvantage and reducing interactions between racial groups. Segregation is traditionally measured at MSA level using indices that capture different dimensions of segregation” (Armstrong et.al). It could be possible that African Americans struggle to find health care in residential communities. If that’s the case, then it could be possible that they need to travel into another area to get health care. The area could be a place with a substantially lower African American population which could possibly lead to distrust. Another case could be that African Americans live in an area with a small number of African Americans. The mistrust in the health care system is not an easy fix. Moving into an area with a higher percentage of African Americans could help if there are health care facilities nearby, but then the question of racial segregation is brought up. A solution to this issue could be moving into an area with racial groups that are distributed evenly across an area. Racial residential segregation also has an influence on all other races. It is not only African Americans that deal with health care system distrust. However, African Americans have higher rates of health care system distrust.