Background: Medical mistrust among Black patients has been used to explain the existence of well-documented racial inequities at the end of life that negatively impact this group. However, there are few studies that describe patient perspectives around the impact of racism and discriminatory experiences on mistrust within the context of serious illness.
Objective: To better characterize experiences of racism and discrimination among patients with serious illness and its association with medical mistrust.
Participants: Seventy-two Black participants with serious illness hospitalized at an academic county hospital.
Approach: This is a convergent mixed methods study using data from participant-completed surveys and existing semi-structured interviews eliciting participants' perspectives around their experiences with medical racism, communication, and decision-making.
Main Measures: The experience of medical racism and its association with Group-Based Medical Mistrust (GBMM) scale scores, a validated measure of medical mistrust.
Key Results: Of the 72 Black participants, 35% participated in interviews. Participants were mostly men who had significant socioeconomic disadvantage, including low levels of wealth, income, and educational attainment. There were reported high levels of race-based mistrust in the overall GBMM scale score (mean [SD], 36.6 [9.9]), as well as high scores within the suspicion (14.2 [5.0]), group disparities in healthcare (9.9 [2.8]), and lack of support (9.1 [2.7]) subscales. Three qualitative themes aligned with the GBMM subscales. Participants expressed skepticism of healthcare workers (HCWs) and modern medicine, recounted personal experiences of discrimination in the medical setting, and were frustrated with poor communication from HCWs.
Conclusions: This study found high levels of mistrust among Black patients with serious illness. Suspicion of HCWs, disparities in healthcare by race, and a lack of support from HCWs were overarching themes that influenced medical mistrust. Critical, race-conscious approaches are needed to create strategies and frameworks to improve the trustworthiness of healthcare institutions and workers.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11606-024-08997-z | DOI Listing |
Prev Med Rep
January 2025
The Ohio State University, College of Nursing, 295 W. 10. Avenue Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
Background: In the United States, African/Black American (henceforth Black) men face significantly higher mortality rates from colorectal cancer (CRC) compared to other gender, racial, and ethnic groups. Although CRC is preventable and treatable with early detection, screening rates among Black men remain low. This study aimed to synthesize existing literature on the barriers and facilitators (determinants) of CRC screening to offer guidance to primary care teams in their efforts to improve screening uptake.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Black women living with HIV (WLHIV) often have suboptimal ART adherence due to a multitude of social and structural barriers, including HIV-related stigma. Trust in healthcare providers plays a significant role in adhering to ART and is likely lower among Black WLHIV compared to their White counterparts. This study examined the relationship between experienced stigma in healthcare settings and ART adherence and viral suppression through anticipated stigma in healthcare settings, internalized stigma, and medical mistrust.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCancer Med
January 2025
Population Health Science & Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.
Purpose: Despite rigorous evidence of improved quality of life and longer survival, disparities in the utilization of palliative and hospice care persist for racial and ethnic minority patients with cancer. This study evaluated the impact of psychosocial factors on utilization of these services.
Methods: Patients with advanced lung cancer were recruited at a large academic urban hospital.
Psychiatr Serv
January 2025
Depression Clinical and Research Program, Department of Psychiatry (Pederson, Jain, Yeung), and Center for Global Health (Tsai), Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston; Harvard Medical School (Pederson, Jain, Yeung, Tsai) and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (McLaughlin), Boston; School of Arts and Sciences, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Boston (Hawkins); Department of Psychology, City College of the City University of New York, New York City (Anglin).
Objective: Black adults experience depression that is more severe than that of their White counterparts, yet they are less likely to receive treatment from a mental health professional. This study aimed to examine the relationships between medical mistrust or trust and the willingness to seek mental health care.
Methods: The authors conducted an online cross-sectional survey of 1,043 Black adults in the United States.
BMC Med Ethics
January 2025
Klinic Community Health, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
Background: This study explored the ethical issues associated with community-based HIV testing among African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB) populations in Canada, focusing on their perceptions of consent, privacy, and the management of HIV-related data and bio-samples.
Methods: A qualitative community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach was employed to actively engage ACB community members in shaping the research process. The design included in-depth qualitative interviews with 33 ACB community members in Manitoba, Canada.
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