The next time you visit your doctor, you might not want to hold back on sharing that story about the black guy who called you a honkie or the white insurance agent that unjustly refused you a policy.
Discrimination, it appears, can adversely affect your health. That is the conclusion reached by Rice University sociologists Jenifer Bratter and Bridget Gorman in their study, "Is Discrimination an Equal Opportunity Risk? Racial Experiences, Socio-economic Status and Health Status Among Black and White Adults,"
The authors examined data containing measures of social class, race and perceived discriminatory behavior and found that approximately 18 percent of blacks and 4 percent of whites reported higher levels of emotional upset and/or physical symptoms due to race-based treatment.
"Discriminatory behavior very well may be a 'missing link' in the analysis of racial and ethnic health disparities," Bratter said. "It's important to acknowledge and study its impact on long-term health.
Given these findings, here's two questions cultural learners might ask: If communities successfully reduce discrimination, might they also bring down healthcare costs? If companies eliminate racial, religious and gender biases, might their increase workforce wellness and boost productivity?
Unlike most of the research on this topic, Bratter and Gorman's study examines the health risks of discrimination among both whites and blacks, as opposed to just blacks. Their analysis was based on data from the 2004 wave of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, an ongoing collaborative project between U.S. states and territories and the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"This racially comparative focus is important because we examine whether discrimination is equally harmful to the health status of black and white adults – or whether experiencing discrimination is disproportionately harmful to either black or white adults," Gorman said. "For example, since, on average, black adults typically experience more health risks in their social and personal environment than white adults (including higher poverty and lower-quality medical insurance), they may be especially vulnerable to negative health effects as a result of racial discrimination."
Both Bratter and Gorman hope that their research will raise awareness about the impact racial discrimination has on health and wellness. "Ultimately we hope that practitioners and researchers in the medical field recognize the dual contribution of social class and interpersonal treatment in shaping health outcomes among persons of all racial populations," Bratter said.
This study appeared in the September 2011 edition of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior and was funded by Rice University.
So here's the question we might ask: If we reduce discrimination, might we also bring down healthcare costs? Should companies consider making diversity part of their wellness programs?
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