According to the study, the discrepancy is due to medical quality rather than race. Blacks Are More Likely to Die From Colon Cancer Than Whites.
A family doctor near me and other researchers have discovered that the gap is due to the quality of treatment provided rather than race.
“Our findings invert how we think about health inequality,” says Kim Rhoads, M.D., a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Harold Amos Scholar and Stanford colon and rectal surgery assistant professor.
When part of an integrated health system, underrepresented patients are more likely to survive colon cancer therapy.
- This demonstrates that rather than just asking what’s wrong with the patient—are they poor?—we should question what’s wrong with the patient.
We need to ask ourselves if we are giving the correct quality of treatment to the uninsured.
Blacks die at far higher rates than whites from colon cancer in the U.S. Dr. Rhoads and her co-authors found that all patients, including those from underrepresented populations, had a higher survival rate in integrated settings. To put it another way, the quality of care was more important than race.
“We were amazed that evidence-based treatment could eliminate racial differences in colon cancer survival in integrated settings, but we were most pleased that it could do it everywhere,” Dr. Rhoads adds.
This suggests that we have control over colon cancer inequalities. If we enhance access to integrated care and treatment guidelines, we can erase racial differences in colon cancer survival.
The Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program promotes and supports future generations of physicians and dentists from historically disadvantaged backgrounds.
For more on African American studies and helpful health, facts contact McGowan Family Health & Wellness Center at (708)480-9730. Also don’t skip our article on hATTR: No Longer a Rare Diagnosis if you’re battling Hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis.
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