US Minority Groups Think Doctors Don't Care About Them

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Why do minority groups in the United States believe that their physicians don't care about them? This new study might have found the answer.

A new study published in Social Science Research reveals that African-American and Latino minority groups in the United States are having trust issues with their physicians. These groups of minorities have higher mistrust than white people, according to researcher Abigail Sewell from the University of Pennsylvania.

Sewell, who is a Sociologist, aims to identify the relationship between race and what people experience when visiting a doctor. The study was able to establish the links between immigrants and health-care system.

The research, which was funded by the fellowships from the National Science Foundation, the Ford Foundation and Indiana University, conducted a survey to 2,800 people from age 18 and older. According to Science Daily, the surveyors went door-to-door to gather volunteers for the research study. Seven out of every 10 people agreed to be included in the survey.

 After weighing and analyzing the data gathered, Sewell was able to come up with an interesting conclusion from the data.

"What we have are perceptual data: what patients feel when they go to a doctor. Minorities in general don't have a lot of faith that they're receiving the best care they could," she said as cited by University of Pennsylvania's news release. "Number two, and I think more important, the fact that they think their doctors don't care means they feel their doctors aren't taking into consideration their personal lives."

To support the findings of the study, Sewell also retold the experience of a woman who also takes care of her 18-month-old grandchild. According to her, the doctor told the woman that "she can't lift more than five pounds for the next two weeks."

Noting the doctors' training in identifying symptoms and taking care of patients, Sewell stressed a term called "structural competency". The term refers to going beyond the patients' race, class and culture. This new approach, according to Sewell, is gaining more traction.

"This captures where people live. Not just where they live as far as place, but the where and the how. They may live in poverty or have two jobs or live with three generations. They may still be working at age 65."

For her upcoming research, Sewell plans to study how patients use the social media and other advance technology to gain more information about health.