The core population of Australia

I remember reading and studying a landmark report by the BioMed Central which documented that emigrant refugee women from African countries have greater risk and higher possibility of adverse pregnancy outcomes in comparison to other women seeking maternal healthcare during pregnancy (Gibson-Helm 2014). However, this study conducted on maternity services of a reputable healthcare facility and in collaboration with other healthcare organizations must put greater attention in handling and avoiding such disparities in the health care system as it is extremely difficult to work towards removing such biases and prejudice in the

REFLECTIONS ON INTERSECTIONALITY AND BIASED HEALTH CARE
REFLECTIONS ON INTERSECTIONALITY AND BIASED HEALTH CARE
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

1REFLECTIONS ON INTERSECTIONALITY AND BIASED HEALTH CARE
The core population of Australia encompasses the diverse indigenous population,
population derived from the colonization by the British in the past and the extensive
immigration from numerous miscellaneous cultures. The linguistic and cultural diversity is a
great asset to our prosperous community as it helps in the growth of creativity, generating a
diverse workforce and helps in developing better understanding. However, discrimination,
stereotyping and cultural bias leads to detrimental crippling effects in the society. The
healthcare industry must also be responsive in checking and managing such challenges that
might be triggered from this diversity (Cormack, Harris and Paradies 2017).
Intersectionality refers to the interrelated inclusive environment of various social
categorizations namely class, gender, and race and the overlapping between the groups
leading to augmented discrimination associated with being member of a certain groups
(Williams and Wyatt 2015). Being a member of the healthcare system, it is my sworn duty to
provide unbiased treatment and healthcare for all. I remember reading and studying a
landmark report by the BioMed Central which documented that emigrant refugee women
from African countries have greater risk and higher possibility of adverse pregnancy
outcomes in comparison to other women seeking maternal healthcare during pregnancy
(Gibson-Helm 2014). Survey reports show that the African women receive fewer procedures
and poorer-quality medical care even when we have technologically advanced diagnostic and
therapeutic interventions. In the unique study conducted on maternity services of a reputable
healthcare facility in Australia pregnancy care attendance along with pregnancy outcomes
were highlighted which showed instances of symptoms being overlooked and less interaction
with the African patients. Higher number of still born was noted amongst the maternal cases
of African population when compared to the overall statistics in general (Gibson-Helm 2014).
I was overwhelmed with pain and feelings of helplessness after coming across such
biased situations and harsh reality of prejudices and its devastating consequences. I feel

2REFLECTIONS ON INTERSECTIONALITY AND BIASED HEALTH CARE
people fail to realize that it is no prize winning scenario being born white and a severe crime
to be born with darker skin. When a white person walks into the emergency department after
being in an accident, people and officials do not doubt his version of the story. However,
when a black person gets admitted with an injury, unconsciously people stereotype him,
thinking that he might have engaged in some violence or crime (Burgess et al. 2017).
Similarly, I find people interacting less with the expecting mothers who are black compared
to fair skinned pregnant women. There are instances when mothers are not offered pain relief
during childbirth as it is apparently know that blacks have higher tolerance to pain (Williams
and Wyatt 2015). This bizarre assumption leads to miscommunication and the mother might
have to insist on pain relief to manage the soreness. Individuals facing such regular
discriminations are also aware of such biased partiality and are a source of psychological
stress for them (Phiri, Dietsch and Bonner 2010). Study shows that there is an increase in
cases of hypertension, cardiac issues, incident linked asthma, lack of sleep and poor mental
health due to such increased psychological pressure.
My evaluation of the study has helped me in acknowledging the gap that exists in
healthcare delivered to white and black pregnant women. The positive part of this study is
realizing the existence of such partiality and cultural stereotyping so that if I ever come
across such a scenario, I can do everything in my power to remove such bias and work
towards increasing the comfort level of the deprived patient. However, this study has also
helped me to realize that such cultural bias are deeply sown in our subconscious and
removing such prejudiced path of thought is extremely difficult and not possible overnight.
Health care organizations and medical schools must put greater attention in handling
and avoiding such disparities in health care and assign it a high national priority status. I
think that these organizations and healthcare systems must redouble the efforts to increase
and improve awareness of such disparities, enhance the diversity in healthcare profession,

3REFLECTIONS ON INTERSECTIONALITY AND BIASED HEALTH CARE
and all together work in eliminating the discrimination and the adverse effects it brings along
on the health of the black patients such as the black expecting mothers in the study and the
health care (Wakerman et al. 2017). It has also helped me to consciously embed it in my
mind to not assume that blacks feel less pain and will deliberately make it a point to speak
more and interact more with the pregnant African women when I am responsible for her care
and get the chance. However, the health care system may not be able to eliminate ethnic and
racial disparities in health; therefore, the health care practitioners need to work with other
areas of society and through these collaborations it will raise the awareness of the health
consequences of social policies in areas distant from the traditional interventions in medical
and public health. Much of the current burden of disease is associated with timely
acknowledgement of the symptoms and proper diagnostic tests for critical management and
evaluation of the prognosis. Now, evidence suggests that healthcare professionals
communicate less with the blacks and even suggest fewer diagnostic tests for their conditions
(Gibson-Helm 2014). The elevated frequency rate of stillborns in black mothers might simply
be attributed to fewer analytical tests prescribed which delayed timely intervention leading to
the fatal tragic consequences (Gibson-Helm 2014).
My analysis of the biased healthcare leads me to believe that cultural training and
cultural awareness programme must be made compulsory for all health workers in Australia.
Even if one does not desire working with individuals from other “backward” cultures, the
healthcare worker has to participate and qualify the cross cultural training programme which
includes comprehensive courses on transcultural care, cultural competence, cultural
awareness, cultural safety, cultural respect and cultural security (Greenhalgh et al. 2015).
Inclusive care practice and improving communication skills will also empower healthcare
professionals to deal with the patients in a better manner while delivering the best quality
healthcare. Employing more black individuals as healthcare professionals will also aid in

4REFLECTIONS ON INTERSECTIONALITY AND BIASED HEALTH CARE
rectifying the scenario along with generating a multicultural task force which will be
beneficial for all (Laverty, McDermott and Calma 2017).

5REFLECTIONS ON INTERSECTIONALITY AND BIASED HEALTH CARE
References
Burgess, D., Van Ryn, M., Dovidio, J., & Saha, S. (2017). Reducing racial bias among health
care providers: Lessons from social-cognitive psychology. Journal of general internal
medicine, 22(6), 882-887.
Cormack, D., Harris, R., & Paradies, Y. (2017). Racism and health service utilisation: a
systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS One, 12(12), e0189900.
Gibson-Helm, M., Teede, H., Block, A., Knight, M., East, C., Wallace, E. M., & Boyle, J.
(2014). Maternal health and pregnancy outcomes among women of refugee background from
African countries: a retrospective, observational study in Australia. BMC pregnancy and
childbirth, 14(1), 392.
Greenhalgh, T., Snow, R., Ryan, S., Rees, S., & Salisbury, H. (2015). Six ‘biases’ against
patients and carers in evidence-based medicine. BMC medicine, 13(1), 200.
Laverty, M., McDermott, D. R., & Calma, T. (2017). Embedding cultural safety in
Australia’s main health care standards. The Medical Journal of Australia, 207(1), 15-16.
Phiri, J., Dietsch, E., & Bonner, A. (2010). Cultural safety and its importance for Australian
midwifery practice. Collegian, 17(3), 105-111.
Wakerman, J., Humphreys, J., Wells, R., Kuipers, P., Entwistle, P., & Jones, J. (2017). A
systematic review of primary health care delivery models in rural and remote Australia 1993-
2006.
Williams, D. R., & Wyatt, R. (2015). Racial bias in health care and health: challenges and
opportunities. Jama, 314(6), 555-556.