The core population of Australia

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

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REFLECTIONS 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

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REFLECTIONS 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,