Minorities in Healthcare

 

What is the current situation?

 

Current data in the healthcare management profession shows us that minorities are 28% of the population in the U.S, yet there is only a 3% participation of minorities in the healthcare profession (Anderson, Rice, Kominski & Abdelmonen, 2007).

 

Also, it is known that minorities are lagging behind in terms of the services they receive in healthcare. This stems, among other reasons, because of their cultural background, beliefs and values, which affect the way healthcare is being delivered to that and can consequently adversely affect it (Administrator, Managed Care Organization, as cited in Betancourt, 2002). Among the other reasons are a lack of diversity in healthcare leadership and workforce. Minorities are only a small portion of the healthcare professionals, though they are a substantial portion of the population (over a quarter of it!).

 

The lack of diversity causes rigidity and lack of flexibility in terms of methods used and changes to the program of healthcare. This leads to bad communication between officials and the minorities, and also in a system which is poorly designed for minorities, meaning that they aren't receiving as much individual attention as they should (Betancourt, 2002).