I created this pitch for a WebMD client who requested sponsored content about the disparities and inequalities in the current healthcare system. This pitch was proposed in August 2020, and content was published in the fall.
Interactive Articles:
1. COVID-19 and the Minority Disparities in Healthcare
The COVID-19 crisis unearthed the trend that minorities experienced more contractions and death from the virus. It also revealed overall inequities in healthcare. This article will examine the root causes minorities experience healthcare disparities. May include: the institutional practices that create barriers to healthcare: unequal or reduced access to quality treatment, limited options for life-saving procedures or devices; the social determinants to healthcare: real or perceived communication barriers with doctors and healthcare system, lack of quality community healthcare, limited access to internet for telehealth visits; structural racism: the institutional practices that create barriers to healthcare, and more.
2. Why Treatment Is Different If You’re a Minority
An overview of the limited screening and treatment options that people experience if they are a minority or among the poor. May include: difficulty getting the care you need due to lack of finances, delayed treatment due to lack of insurance coverage, delayed treatment of common, curable diseases due, preventive measures delayed or ignored, and more.
3. Where You Live Matters: The Impact On Healthcare for Minorities
Geography may be tied to a person’s healthcare destiny. An overview of the importance of where you live and how it may determine the quality of your health and your health care options. May include: lack of doctors and hospitals in minority-majority neighborhoods, dependence upon public transportation or lack of reliable transportation options to travel to healthcare centers, full-scale medical facilities not easily accessible, and more.
4. Ways to Increase Access to Common, Preventive Screenings
A look at the ways to lift the barriers that limit access to preventive health screenings among minorities. May include: increased education on the types and importance of preventive screenings for cholesterol, high blood pressure, mammograms, colonoscopies, and other minority-prone, at-risk conditions, increased access through the Affordable Care Act, necessary immunizations, low or no-cost screenings, and more.
5. The Burden of Chronic Conditions For Minorities
This article will outline obstacles that minority populations encounter with chronic conditions, including the greater likelihood of having chronic condition, general education about conditions, families fractured by geography, first generation immigrants who may not know family medical history of members in their native country, absent parents, and more.
6. Addressing the Health Gap Associated With Employment Type
This article will outline how the health and socioeconomic gaps are connected for some minority populations. May include how type of employment limits access to healthcare insurance, working hourly positions that may limit time for doctors’ office visits, difficulty meeting out-of-pocket costs associated with going to doctor, how the burden of chronic illnesses may restrict employment options, having multiple jobs in a gig economy, and more.
7. Medical Distrust Within Minority Populations
A look at the issue of mistrust with minority populations of the medical community and how to solve this disparity, including having more doctors that resemble the community that they are serving, increasing the number of female OB/GYNs and urologists, winning back the trust of a community that does not trust the medical community, how medical distrust shapes medical decisions, and more.
8. How Institutional Racism Leads To Reduced Care For Minorities
A look at how institutional racism within medical education has affected minorities, including medical textbooks and web sites that predominantly show these symptoms and conditions on light-colored skin, biases of pain perception with Black population, specifically Black women, health equity in obstetrics and neonatal care for women and children of color, and more.
9. The Importance of Diversity in Clinical Trials and Research
An overview of lack of minority population in clinical trial participation and research opportunities, including genomic testing, testing new drugs, educating minority populations on why their participation is vital, and more.
Slideshow:
1. Chronic Conditions Common in Minorities
In this new slideshow, we will identify chronic conditions that are commonly diagnosed in minority populations, and associated stereotypes that may accompany these conditions. May include:
* Diabetes
* Cancer (lung, breast, and prostate cancer)
* High Blood Pressure
* Cardiovascular Disease
* Lung Diseases (emphysema, COPD, chronic bronchitis)
* Sickle Cell Disease
* And more …
Launch Poll
Note: Final questions to be determine by Editorial at development.
1. When you’re sick, where do you go for care?
Options may include emergency room, urgent care, primary care doctor, community leader, or friend or family member.
Poll Refresh
Note: Final questions to be determine by Editorial at development.
2. How long will it take to get to your nearest emergency room?
Sravanthi Meka 