Formicola Allan J, Stavisky Judith, Lewy Robert
Columbia University School of Dental and Oral Surgery, USA.
J Dent Educ. 2003 Aug;67(8):869-75.
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) report Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care is serving as a catalyst for the medical profession to re-examine the manner in which its institutions and training programs relate to cultural competence. This report found that racial and ethnic disparities exist in health care and that a lack of access to care does not fully explain why such disparities exist. The IOM study found bias, stereotyping, prejudice, and clinical uncertainty as possible contributing causes. The U.S. Surgeon General's Report on the Oral Health of the Nation also pointed to oral health disparities related to race, ethnicity, and culture. This paper discusses how medicine is responding to the Unequal Treatment report and the lessons to be considered for dentistry. Recommendations on how dentistry can apply the knowledge from this report to help reduce oral health disparities are suggested.
医学研究所（IOM）的报告《不平等待遇：应对医疗保健中的种族和民族差异》正在促使医学界重新审视其机构和培训项目与文化能力的关联方式。该报告发现，医疗保健中存在种族和民族差异，而获得医疗服务的机会不足并不能完全解释这些差异存在的原因。IOM的研究发现，偏见、刻板印象、歧视和临床不确定性可能是造成这些差异的原因。美国卫生局局长关于全国口腔健康的报告也指出了与种族、民族和文化相关的口腔健康差异。本文讨论了医学对《不平等待遇》报告的回应方式以及牙科应吸取的教训。文中还提出了关于牙科如何应用该报告中的知识来帮助减少口腔健康差异的建议。
