Diversity and Discrimination in Health Care

Excerpt

Diversity is broadly defined as the inclusion of varied attributes or characteristics. In the medical community, diversity often includes healthcare professionals, trainees, educators, researchers, and patients from diverse backgrounds, including race, ethnicity, gender, disability, social class, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, gender identity, primary spoken language, and geographic region.

Discrimination in health care is defined as negative actions or lack of consideration directed towards an individual or group based on preconceived notions about their identity. Individuals do not have to belong to a marginalized group themselves to experience discrimination against that group. Discrimination can occur based on perceived membership. Furthermore, harm does not need to occur for discrimination to exist. A group may be discriminated against if it consistently receives lower-quality healthcare services compared to another group solely because of their race, ethnicity, gender, disability, social class, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, gender identity, primary spoken language, or location of residence.

Although discrimination can manifest for various reasons, this activity focuses mainly on gender, ethnicity, and race-based discrimination in the healthcare workforce. Discrimination occurs in all workforce segments, not limited solely to health care. However, health care presents a unique scenario because both care providers and recipients may face discrimination simultaneously, underscoring an inherent power dynamic.