In our third guest blog on health disparities, Christopher J. King, a doctoral student in the Department of Health Services Administration, explores how health services leaders can increase the number of minority health professionals. Mr. King is board certified in health care management and a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.
-----
As the impetus for improving health status through addressing the social determinants of health continues to grow, health services leaders must remain cognizant of the role of the health services organization in reducing and eliminating heath disparities.
Incorporating strategies to better serve minority populations, including the allocation of fiscal resources, should be interwoven into short-term and long-term strategic plans. Employing strategies to increase the pool of physicians, public health professionals, and researchers who are under-represented is a worthwhile investment.
A healthcare team that is a reflection of the population served is paramount to inclusion and culturally sensitive decision-making. In 2004, the Sullivan Commission on Diversity in the Healthcare Work Force found that African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans represent 25% of the American population; however, only 6% of U.S. physicians are comprised of this population. Racially discordant provider–patient relationships can have a negative impact on quality of care. For example, racially discordant providers may be less receptive to socio-cultural nuances, which may impede communication and assessment processes.
Health services administrators can create, support and implement recruitment incentives for minority physicians and other public health professionals during the early stages of their education. Organizations can be successful in building relationships with minorities during high school, college and while they are pursing their professional degrees. These relations will promote loyalty and assist with matriculation for permanent employment. Through mentoring, these programs can also increase the likelihood that students will succeed throughout the continuum of their educational pursuits.
There are numerous programs that have received national recognition in this area. For example, the University of Washington School of Medicine provides an all expense paid six-week enrichment program for under-represented freshmen and sophomores who are interested in medical or dental careers. Through a partnership with MedStar Health, the Vivien T. Thomas Medical Arts Academy’s Rx for Success Program: Prescribing Healthy Futures prepares high school students from underprivileged communities for careers in health professions.
Of particular interest to our School of Public Health are the critical shortages in the public health workforce. As the American Public Health Association (APHA) has stated, “Public health protects individuals, families and communities from serious health threats—ranging from diabetes to bird flu—that are oftentimes preventable” and notes that the “most severe shortages are found in the epidemiology, nursing, laboratory science and environmental health fields.”
Faculty, staff and students at the University of Maryland School of Public Health are therefore engaged in research and other activities to address the shortage of epidemiologists, environmental health workers, pharmacists and other health professionals; and prepare our current health professional workforce to address the increasing diversity of the population they serve.
For example, the University of Maryland Summer Training and Research (UM STAR) program in the UM School of Public Health provides under-represented minority undergraduate students with career development activities in biomedical and behavioral aspects of cardiovascular disease http://sph.umd.edu/KNES/STAR09/index.html.
More information regarding solutions to rebuild the public health workforce can be found here: http://www.apha.org/NR/rdonlyres/597828BF-9924-4B94-8821-135F665E9D45/0/PublicHealthWorkforceIssueBrief.pdf
No comments:
Post a Comment