Race, Racialization, and Health

Race, Racialization, and Health

• Race is a social construct, not a biological reality. People are categorized based on perceived physical characteristics like skin tone, not biological differences.
• Race is used as a way to categorize people; it's an artificial way to organize groups of people.
• There's a very small genetic variation (0.1%) among people based on their race.
• Using race as a category perpetuates discrimination and oppression.
• Using race as a predictor for health outcomes may lead to inaccurate diagnostics and treatments.
• People of certain races may experience increased referral times for diagnostic testing and treatment, lower survival rates, premature death, and higher cancer rates.
• Racialization is the process of attributing social, economic, and political consequences to groups of people based on racial categories. Racial profiling assigns negative stereotypes to individuals based on their perceived race.
• This process can be harmful to healthcare workers and patients.

Scientific Objectivity

• Scientific objectivity aims to treat everyone equally based on quantified facts and truths.
• The idea is to remove bias from the process.
• A key concept is "leave your bias at the door."
• However, this approach often ignores the realities of race and other social factors that influence health disparities. This approach assumes race and other social factors do not exist. The effect of prejudice and discrimination is not considered in health research and policies.
• Biases in research, policies, and healthcare practice can contribute to health disparities.

Structural Racism

• Culture shapes political, economic, and social structures.
• If structures rooted in racial prejudice exist, this manifests in unequal health outcomes.
• Environmental racism examples include toxic dumps and landfills disproportionately placed near racialized communities. This creates health imbalances.

Trauma

• Hurt and adverse experiences can have lasting effects on mental health and physical well-being.
• Intergenerational trauma affects not only the affected individual but also subsequent generations.
• Historical trauma, such as from colonization, can affect present situations. Examples include intergenerational effects from the residential schools in Canada and past colonizations' effect on health.

Indigenous Health

• Indigenous communities have suffered from diseases brought by settlers and colonists, including Smallpox and TB. This has impacted health and well-being.
• Indigenous communities have experienced decreased fertility rates, grief, and depression.
• Historical trauma has caused a decline in community size. This highlights that historical events contribute to current health disparities.
• There's a shift, and the needs are still not met given the historical inequalities.

Nursing Collaboration and Education

• Registered nurses should understand relationships between different cultural groups in Canada. The history of relations is important to understanding the current situation.
• Aboriginal peoples' historical and contemporary contexts are crucial for nursing programs.
• Barriers for racialized nursing students include microaggressions, discrimination, racism, financial difficulties, isolation, and a lack of support. Also, there are differences in resources like computer skills and technological access.
• Nurses play a vital role in establishing healthcare within Indigenous communities, including nursing stations, nurse visitor programs and primary healthcare.
• Indigenous peoples have a right to self-determination to manage their health and well-being needs, with greater participation of First Nations in the planning and delivery of health services. Challenges remain regarding who pays for these services and historical treaty violations.

Unearned Privilege and White Privilege

• Unearned privilege is a benefit given to members of particular social groups (higher social class, heterosexual, male, white, or Christian faith) based on their identity.
• White privilege is a set of unearned advantages based solely on having white skin. This privilege historically gives access to goods and societal services, leading to better outcomes.

Self-Determination

• Indigenous communities should take the lead in creating and managing health care to address specific needs.

Reconciliation

• Reconciliation means acknowledging past wrongs done to Indigenous peoples related to colonization, discrimination, and current attitudes toward them.
• Settlers should take ownership in understanding historical and current relationships with Indigenous peoples and their present-day effects on health and well-being.
• A necessary step involves truth and reconciliation to move forward collectively.

Cultural Resurgence

• The Indian Act has been revised in 1951 to enable Indigenous people to organize and form political organizations.
• Tensions have arisen relating to past rules still in effect.

Colonialism

• Colonialism refers to exploiting resources and governing those in invaded lands (including Indigenous peoples)

Explore the complex relationship between race, racialization, and health outcomes in this quiz. Understand how social constructs of race impact healthcare diagnostics and treatment, perpetuating discrimination and affecting survival rates. Test your knowledge on the implications of racial categorization in health.