As the coronavirus pandemic continues to devastate communities around the world, Black Americans who oppose racial discrimination in hospitals and physician offices are facing additional pressures that could pose threats from Worsen COVID-19. A new study from the University of Georgia examines the interplay between perceptions of coronavirus threat and psychological distress among Black Americans.
The additional pressures arise from the common belief among Black Americans who are concerned that they may not get over how hospitals treat them if they become infected with the coronavirus.
“Although the idea has been widely circulated, this is the first study to use nationally representative data to determine whether this threat, or feeling, is real. among Black adults, and then evaluate how it affects their health, ”said Ryon Cobb, associate professor of sociology at UGA’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and lead author of the study.
The study used data from the American Trends Panel study by the Pew Research Center collected shortly after its inception in March 2020, a nationally representative sample of adults in the United States.
Using self-reports of coronavirus threat and beliefs about racism in medical settings, researchers found that the notion that the coronavirus revolution was a major threat to a person’s health and the belief that Black Americans suffers discrimination in positively and significantly high-level medical conditions. levels of psychological distress.
The research also establishes a relationship between these two risk-multiplying factors. Cobb said the data suggests that people may take more important protective measures even though it may cause Black adults to become less involved with the health care system.
“What we find in the data is that the more people view the COVID-19 revolution as a threat to their health, it increases the likelihood that they will continue to with it, with Blacks and Latinos more likely to follow COVID guidelines than their white peers, “he said.
The study highlights the additional impact that the psychological effects of the revolution will have on these groups, beyond the risk of contracting the virus. “Contracting for COVID-19 makes interaction with the health care system inevitable. The fear of many people of color is that medical institutions are biased against Blacks. the pressure of the revolution and the potentially unjust treatment seem to be causing psychological distress, “said Christy L. Erving, assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at Vanderbilt University.
“Conversations about dealing with the fear of just getting it or not coming down often, if you don’t get it, you’re fine,” Cobb said. “But the revolution itself is stress, and the growing pressure is part of people’s health, regardless of whether they have COVID.”
The study depicts some of the fundamental aspects of how structural bias in the American health care system is contributing to the pressures of the revolution, which is still having a disproportionate impact on Black Americans. .
“These findings highlight the complexity of how a public health crisis can affect the address of members of a black community of an already unequal health care system in circumstances that are ‘increasingly difficult,’ “said W. Carson Byrd, an associate professor at the University of Michigan.
“We need to be mindful of these ideas, especially since they mix with the fact that hospitals are businesses in the United States. So their profits continue to be so bad. Although the stories are narrative, they are also supported by the data: People may be turned away from hospitals or unable to see a doctor leading to worse health, “he said. Cobb.
“And with the urgency of the situation, at least for Black Americans, the idea is that there is little hope for overcoming it.”
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