Minority Groups and Healthcare

Anyone can experience issues with not being able to recieve proper healthcare, but it is known that certain groups may experience more problems simply for being a part of that group.

For example, it's known that women's pain is often taken less seriously then men's pain and therefore is not treated to the same extent. The issues causing the pain may also go undiagnosed much longer.

With minority groups there can be barriers in place beyond just taking someone's symptoms seriously, religious rules and practices, cultural norms, language differences and ignorance of medical information and statistics can all be factors in recieving sub-standard medical care. Some examples:

A healthcare system may assume needs are being met in a rural area as there is at least one doctor. The doctor is male though, and a woman doesn't go to him for a full physical, as due to religious reasons she is not comfortable having a male perform an exam.

You might expect a 26-year-old mother to make a decision regarding her childs treatment alone. Having just completed an evaluation of her 6-year-old, you present 2 options for investigation. The mother shies away from making a firm decision and answers you in vague terms. She seems to speak in circles, almost dancing around the choice, even after hearing all the information needed to decide which care path to follow. You know that she has finished high school, and note impatiently that you have already spent an hour with her. The following week she returns. You worry about the length of the visit and falling behind with other patients. To your surprise, she is decisive. She confides, with some prompting, that she discussed treatment options with her husband and mother-in-law, and together they have arrived at the best solution. She can now confidently pursue the investigation of her childs condition. (this example taken from https://www.kidsnewtocanada.ca/culture/influence)

The information on a prescription says take a pill 3 times a day, but someone interprets that as meaning take 3 pills all at once every day. Or something like this is written: Rx: I tab po qid pc & hs and the person not knowing what that means just takes 1 pill a day, instead of the 4 they should take.

A pregnant women who recently moved to a new country delivers a baby. Both parents come from a region where a genetic condition is at a fairly high prevalence. As the condition is not at all common in the new country, the baby, who does have the condition is not screened and goes untreated for much longer, resulting in long term negative affects.

A doctor has a trans male patient. The doctor has no clue how to handle screenings and the man ends up developing cervical cancer which is not caught until a fairly advanced stage.

While the examples I gave tend to fit in with physical aspects, these also take a toll on mental health. The medication issue could be one to treat a mental disorder. Being misbelieved, having untreated symptoms, and the body deterioriting more than necessary all contribute to stress and may lead to mental illnesses too.

Questions

Have you ever gotten poor or mistreatment and think it is based at least partially due to a group you identify with?

How did it affect you? How were you able to handle the situation?