Zekeri Andrew A
Professor of Sociology, Department of Psychology and Sociology, Adjunct Professor of Sociology, National Center for Bioethics in Research and Health Care, Tuskegee University, , Email:
J Healthc Sci Humanit. 2018 Fall;8(2):31-44.
This paper examines African Americans' beliefs of psychosocial factors associated with racial HIV/AIDS and health disparities using an exploratory qualitative study. This research was conducted to determine how African Americans define their health and disease burden, the reasons for their plight; the problems they face; their coping strategies for providing daily necessities of shelter, transportation, and health care. If we ignore the voices of African Americans, we have dehumanized them, making their humanity invisible. Without hearing the voices of African Americans, our understanding of their social life and health issues is incomplete. Analyses from the top down miss the insights that only those experiencing racial health disparities can articulate. Their voices have important implications for policymakers interested in eliminating racial health disparities and promote equity in health. The focus groups discussions in the paper provide the voice, the presence, and the perspective of African Americans who live on the margins and are generally invisible to the rest of us. Issues surrounding racial health disparities are complex, difficult, and controversial. Results indicate that health insurance, lack of access to quality health care, environmental hazards in neighborhoods, poverty, lack of medical practitioners, unhealthy eating habits, poor life style choices, lack of African Americans in health care professions, lack of trust in white health care professionals and unemployment contribute substantially to racial health disparities in America. Health care is a by-product of the distribution of power and the organization of the society.
本文采用探索性定性研究方法，考察非裔美国人对与种族相关的艾滋病毒/艾滋病及健康差距的社会心理因素的看法。开展这项研究是为了确定非裔美国人如何界定他们的健康和疾病负担、他们困境的原因、他们面临的问题，以及他们在提供住房、交通和医疗保健等日常必需品方面的应对策略。如果我们忽视非裔美国人的声音，就是将他们非人化，使他们的人性变得不可见。不听非裔美国人的声音，我们对他们的社会生活和健康问题的理解就是不完整的。自上而下的分析忽略了只有那些经历种族健康差距的人才能阐明的见解。他们的声音对那些致力于消除种族健康差距和促进健康公平的政策制定者具有重要意义。本文中的焦点小组讨论提供了那些生活在边缘、我们其他人通常看不到的非裔美国人的声音、存在和观点。围绕种族健康差距的问题复杂、棘手且具有争议性。结果表明，医疗保险、缺乏获得优质医疗保健的机会、社区中的环境危害、贫困、缺乏执业医生、不健康的饮食习惯、不良的生活方式选择、医疗保健行业中非裔美国人的缺乏、对白人医疗保健专业人员的缺乏信任以及失业，都对美国的种族健康差距有很大影响。医疗保健是权力分配和社会结构的一个副产品。
