Black individuals are continuing to face disparities within the healthcare system, regardless of how universal our healthcare coverage may be
I believe the Canadian healthcare system was not designed in a way that allows for patients to be treated equally. Numerous times, it has been discussed that people of colour are not receiving adequate care compared to their European counterparts.
Although we live in a progressive society that sheds light on these topics, a plethora still needs to change. Through patient advocacy, we can make these changes within our healthcare system.
The black population of Canada has had a substantial history with medicine and the healthcare system. Due to this history and the means of patient advocacy, we are seeing improvements to make our healthcare system more inclusive and representative of the needs of black individuals.
Unfortunately, our healthcare system has not always been like this. For example, black individuals faced racial inequality and injustice regarding the care they received.
A mountain of evidence has displayed a lack of health research concerning the black population. This has led to their care being inaccurate since it is based on research conducted on individuals of European descent. Instances like these have created a space for the healthcare system to make inferences on how to treat black individuals best.
For example, there is a racial bias in administering pain medication for the black population compared to their European descent counterparts. This medical practice is rooted in the belief that black individuals had a higher pain tolerance than those of European descent.
As of this, it was reported that black individuals were undertreated for pain symptoms, leading to increased chances of being denied pain medication. In addition, according to a study, black individuals are more likely to be underestimated with experienced pain despite their verbal communication of discomfort.
The aforementioned belief was so prominent in the healthcare system that it implicated individuals during childbirth. Regardless of an individual's insurance policy, the status of the admitted hospital, and other factors which may influence the presence of epidurals, black individuals are less likely to be administered an epidural before childbirth.
Not only does this policy demonstrate racial bias, but in my opinion, it also displays prominent concerns for care inequality. For example, women should not be denied epidurals during excruciating moments such as childbirth due to higher perceived pain tolerance.
According to a study investigating the relationship between race and usage of Epidural Analgesia during childbirth, "Black patients with private insurance had rates of epidural use similar to those of white/non-Hispanic patients without insurance coverage." Although these are American statistics from 2003, it demonstrates the racial disparities black individuals faced in the past.
On a positive note, the Canadian healthcare system has shown promise for improvement towards racial bias and inequality. Recently, medical textbooks have included medical illustrations of black individuals to demonstrate inclusion.
Modern medicine also recruits larger populations of black students to promote equality of opportunity and representation among healthcare staff and patients. This newfound representation provides our healthcare system with more diverse voices for social issues within this system. In addition, it may provide a better basis for black individuals to receive equal care as their providers could better relate to them.
With advocacy against the lack of research on various racialized groups, there has been an increase in medical research focusing on black individuals in recent years. The uptake of research has provided medical practitioners with a better understanding of how illness presents itself within the black population and how to treat it better.
With advocacy against the lack of research on various racialized groups, there has been an increase in medical research focusing on black individuals in recent years. The uptake of research has provided medical practitioners with a better understanding of how illness presents itself within the black population and how to treat it better.
The Canadian healthcare system has drastically improved concerning the inclusivity, representation, and treatment of the black population in medicine and health. However, I believe much improvement still needs to be done to reconcile past actions and promote equality.
Since there are already practices in place enhancing the representation of black individuals and correcting the quality of care through specified research, patient advocacy is the primary method of improving our healthcare system for black individuals.
I believe this to be true because through raising awareness on issues that impact specific communities, we have the power to implement change. In addition, by exercising patient advocacy, we can ensure that these strategies continue to support the black community within medicine.
Through showcasing prominent issues and demanding change, we can promote inclusivity, more health research conducted on black individuals and representation. With these factors, I believe we can create a further significant shift in healthcare, improving the quality of care we provide to the black community.
By: Andrew Richards
Being on the other side of my five years here at McMaster, I cannot picture my journey any other way. Although there were times when things may not have gone as planned, there was never a moment in time where I felt like I was not in the right spot.
When I was first asked to write this article, I was kind of uncomfortable because I felt like it makes it seem like I have my act together when I really do not. I am just a senior university student who is still figuring things out. But these are the things that I have learned during my time at Mac and maybe they can help others, especially those who are just starting out on their journey.
One thing we are often told to do in athletics and academics is to set these goals for ourselves, especially big end goals. I used to be a big believer of that, and I have made my own goals, but I think there's a different way to look at it.
If you change your mind from, ‘I'm focusing on one big goal’ to, ‘what's one thing today I can get better at’, you are able to get more results. Instead of just chasing after one thing, you are also trying to make yourself better. For me, working on improving every day has made me go further. For example, instead of setting a goal of getting a certain grade, set a goal to study harder every day, and eventually you can reach that goal of getting the grade you want.
It sounds a little cheesy, but I think university is very hard especially as a first-year. Everyone experiences those moments where things really are not going well. So I think one thing that's really important, no matter what you're going through, is to be your own advocate and your own friend.
Things are not always going to go so well, so you have to be the first one to let yourself off the hook and forgive yourself. In the past, I have put a lot of pressure on myself and have been my own worst critic. Looking back now, I know that you cannot expect other people to forgive you or let you off the hook if you can't do that for yourself.
One thing that we are lucky to have at Mac is the amazing people that are around us. It is a lost opportunity for someone to try and get through four or five years on their own. Everyone you meet at McMaster, you can take something away for them. Whether it be by building a relationship with them, or by being inspired by them.
Even if you don't love stuff about them you can still learn from them, and it would be a disservice to yourself and to others to not take advantage of these connections.
This is something that I struggled with earlier on. Before I came into university, all the teams that I played on before I had a large role. But when I first got here, I was a small fish in a big pond. So it was difficult for me, and I'm sure a lot of other athletes, because you want to start feeling like you're contributing right away.
Though when I look back at the past five years, I am super proud of everything I have done with my team. I know now that everything happens in time and if you try to force things to happen when it is not time, it will not always work out the way you want it to. Don't be upset if things are not going your way right away, just know that you have time and if you have a plan, things will work out eventually.
One really important thing in all this is realizing there's no one way to do all of this. There's a lot of amazing people at Mac, but the coolest thing is that everyone is unique. As athletes, we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to fit a mould, or to be a certain way.
Looking back, something I wish I allowed myself to do more was just be my unique self. I think it is exhausting trying to put on a face. After being around so many unique people at Mac, if I could go back and encourage my first-year self anything, it would be to just be myself.
I may not have it all figured out, but one thing I do know is that these five things are principles I am going to carry with me as I move forward in life. Whether I go on to play professional volleyball or into the work world, I know that if I always take these lessons with me, it will help take me to my next goal.
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By: Yashoda Valliere
“Try new things; expand your horizons!”
Sound familiar?
As university students, we are often bombarded with suggestions and opportunities to mould ourselves into new and improved versions of ourselves. This is especially true at the start of a new year, with waves of students determined to shake themselves out of their ruts and routines (or at least into better ones). In the midst of the frenzy, I was drawn to stop and ask the question: why do we feel such a strong urge to change in the first place? What do we truly gain from it – and is it always worth the accompanying risks of unfamiliar territory?
Funnily enough, I found my answer in coursework. Those of you who have taken Psychology 2B03 (Personality) are familiar with the humanistic theories of Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers. If you have never heard of either of these men, it’s likely that you’ve heard their terminology borrowed by pop culture – especially the phrase “self-actualization.”
Maslow proposed that all of our actions are based in two types of motives. “Deficiency motives” drive us to meet our basic needs, such as food, water, safety, and social belonging, to survive and feel whole. “Being motives,” on the other hand, are growth-oriented rather than deficiency-oriented. Maslow described the tendency toward self-actualization, a Being motive, as “the desire to become more and more what one is, to become everything that one is capable of becoming.” Self-actualized individuals are not fearful or defensive and, as such, are able to view themselves and the world around them without denial and to comfortably accept the way they are. They are playful, creative, and continually appreciate small details in everyday life; they trust their own instincts; they do not view situations as black-and-white dichotomies and they are not social chameleons, conforming to cultural norms.
A similar description applies to Carl Rogers’ theory of the “fully-functioning person.” This goal was so important to Rogers that he scrapped the Deficiency motives altogether and proposed that every action, from birth to death, is subconsciously motivated only by the “actualizing tendency” to grow into our true selves. That is, to unlearn the false personalities conditioned into us by society.
So what does all of this have to do with new year’s resolutions? Perhaps one of Maslow’s most inspiring ideas is the concept of “growth choices” as a path to self-actualization. As he put it, “life is an ongoing process of choosing between safety (out of fear and need for defence) and risk for the sake of progress and growth.” The exact same decision, when framed as a choice between growth and stagnation or as a choice between fear and comfort, can have a surprisingly different outcome. To complement his eight-fold path to self-actualization Maslow also listed several barriers, including lack or fear of self-knowledge and conformity to social and cultural norms. To turn your everyday choices into growth choices is to recognize the mental defences you have fearfully erected and to break them down.
This is why I challenge myself to make choices that are truly outside my comfort zone, and not just for the occasion of a new year, but to bring myself one step closer to what Maslow and Rogers would describe as realising my full potential. We can all try something that we are afraid to do, beyond the tired stereotypes of going to the gym (in January, at least) or improving our GPAs. You could sign up for a crash course in public speaking, or read a book on a political philosophy you disagree with or even just get that one item on the menu you’ve always avoided. I recently applied for a job I knew was probably beyond me; the interview process still expanded my knowledge of my own strengths and weaknesses and was a useful growth opportunity.
It’s important to remember that the value of growth choices is in the process, not the product. Maslow and Rogers described the path to self-actualization not as a simple “on/off” switch, but as a series of small successes in areas such as honesty, self-awareness, and trust in one’s own judgment, all of which are realistically accompanied by setbacks and sometimes no externally visible success (case in point: I didn’t get the job). Don’t beat yourself up if your leap of faith turns out to be a flop, because the most important outcome from a psychological point of view is the fact that you consciously chose to develop yourself and overcome your traditional patterns of thinking. With that in mind, you can congratulate yourself on getting one step closer to self-actualization.
