August 30, 2023
1 minute read
Source/disclosure information
Issuer:
Disclosure: Shohe has not reported disclosure of relevant financial information. This work was funded by the Social Science Research Council/Wenner-Gren Foundation (grant SSRC-4393), the Boston University Social Science Innovation Center Faculty Research Pilot Grant, and the Boston University INSPIRE (Innovation Stimulation Pilot in the Kidney) Award. received. See this study for relevant financial disclosures by other authors.
Important points:
- Stigma against illness has been a core component of patients’ lives and medical experiences.
- Social networks and communities played a role in providing support.
Data indicate that underrepresented groups of patients with kidney disease face a greater health care burden due to psychological and structural factors such as stigma and institutional racism.
“Racial and ethnic minorities in the United States are disproportionately affected by chronic kidney disease and progressive renal failure and face greater socioeconomic challenges.” Dr. Merav Shokhet, Written by PhDs and their colleagues in the Department of Anthropology, College of Arts and Sciences, Boston University. The researchers studied how these burdens “shape the experience and ability to cope with illness” and compared findings before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Qualitative study investigators used purposeful sampling to recruit 20 adults undergoing hemodialysis, most of whom identified themselves as black. The researchers conducted semi-structured interviews to gather individual patient perspectives on their illness experience.
The authors wrote that “most patients experienced racial prejudice and discrimination, including discrimination in the health care system and in the health care system.” For example, “Patients attribute their inadequate access to pain medication to medical racism.” A smaller group of patients also reported feeling neglected and stigmatized because of their socioeconomic status and class.
According to this study, three key themes emerged from the research:
- Stigma about illness is a central component of patients’ lives, and many participants felt misunderstood because of their illness.
- While the pandemic has brought new challenges, patients have had to adjust to safety procedures and health concerns, life has not been completely disrupted before COVID-19.
- Social networks such as family, friends, and religious communities played a large role in providing support to patients.
“Nearly all patients described how relatives and friends helped with everyday tasks such as cleaning, shopping, delivering food, and making phone calls,” Shokhet and colleagues write. The results could help develop policy interventions to alleviate structural tensions.
“Based on our findings, we believe that a stronger health care system to ensure the detection and prevention of precursors to kidney disease and to eliminate the ongoing health burden imposed by overt and covert racism , both more systematic institutional and cultural changes are needed” in patients’ daily lives. “
race and medicine
