Atunah-Jay SJ, Phelan S, Anderson AT, Behl S, McTate EA, Gorfine MC, Sood G, Taylor KK, Brockman J, Salinas M, Biggs BK, Wieland ML, Asiedu GB. Promoting Safe and Supportive Health Care Spaces for Youth Experiencing Racism.
Acad Pediatr 2024:S1876-2859(24)00009-3. [PMID:
38244857 DOI:
10.1016/j.acap.2024.01.009]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2023] [Revised: 11/23/2023] [Accepted: 01/11/2024] [Indexed: 01/22/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE
This qualitative study applies a community-based participatory research approach to elicit formative data on pediatric patient experiences of racism in the health care setting and to explore clinic-based opportunities for supporting pediatric patients experiencing racism.
METHODS
The study is situated within the outpatient practice of a large tertiary academic medical center in a midsize Midwestern city. Community partners were involved in all aspects of the research, including research protocol design, recruitment, data analysis, community dissemination, and manuscript preparation. Participants were youth between 11 and 18 years, in middle or high school, self-identifying as a person of color, Latinx or Indigenous who answered yes to the question "have you ever experienced race-related prejudice and discrimination?" Parent/guardians of youth meeting inclusion criteria participated in separate focus groups. Data were analyzed using an interpretative phenomenological analysis approach.
RESULTS
Major findings were divided into 2 categories: 1) racism-related experiences in the health care setting; and 2) patient and parent/guardian recommendations to support pediatric patients experiencing racism. Among health care setting experiences, primary emerging themes included racism experienced in the health care setting, patient-clinician communication around racism, patient-clinician concordance, and high-quality clinical care. Recommendations were presented within the 4 domains of racism: intrapersonal, interpersonal, structural, and institutional.
CONCLUSIONS
Racism experiences worsen child biological, psychological, and behavioral functioning, yet research is lacking on how health care professionals may best support pediatric patients experiencing racism. Study findings suggest opportunities for providing safer and more supportive health care spaces for youth experiencing racism.
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