Tuesday, April 25, 2006
CHICAGO - Black Americans found more likely than whites to distrust the health coverage system, in part because the lack of insurance forces them into emergency rooms and clinics where they build up no rapport with doctors and nurses, researchers resulted on Monday.
A national survey of 422 blacks and 522 whites found the former "were significantly more likely than the whites to report low trust in all health care providers," wrote Chanita Hughes Halbert of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and colleagues.
The survey found low levels of the trust among nearly 45 percent of blacks compared to 33.5 percent of the whites. Trust is also important, the researchers said, because it really influences the degree to which the patients follow doctors' orders.
"The interpersonal relationship between patients and health care providers is a critical component of patient trust," Hughes Halbert and colleagues wrote.
They said it was possible the "environmental characteristics of hospital emergency departments," known for their frequent shift changes and harried staff, may interfere with doctor-patient relationships.
The survey could not find the race of the health coverage providers was a factor in the distrust found all among black Americans.
"This suggests that increased access to health care in settings where there is greater opportunity to develop effective interpersonal relationships with providers, regardless of the provider's racial or ethnic background, may improve trust," the report reads.
But getting access to those more personal and private settings is a significant challenge for blacks because they are less likely than whites to have insurance coverage and more likely to rely on public programs.
Training designed to improve communication with patients may be needed for providers to help both black and white patients, the report concluded, but it may be especially important to focus such efforts on those working in settings more likely to be used by black patients.
posted by kanth
@ 5:50 AM
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