Understanding Health Care
Bronchitis! Wow, acute bronchitis! What was the onset?
The doctor took some details from the presentation cues of the parent in the room. The parent was dirty from work and smelling like smoke, so the doctor was hesitant to believe the words of the parent on how long the child has been suffering. [This is an example of classicism coming out to play.] In addition, the doctor assumed the smell of smoke belonged to the parent and as such the kid had suffered respiratory distress from the second-hand smoke which irritated the child's lungs and led to bronchitis. The doctor made one more assumption. The doctor assumed that the parent wasn't around to know the true onset of the breathing difficulties, or perhaps exaggerated their concern, so they thought this might be an acute problem.
These assumptions were incorrect. Often doctors use race and socioeconomic status to make assumptions about the patient, but these assumptions are not always correct. Racism and prejudice tend to inform some decisions and assumptions even though they are not always supported from data.
In this we must recall a distinction in health care that is not always recognized. There is individual health and population health and it is fallacy to apply findings from one to the other because they are not the same thing. People and patients exists as singular identities with their own unique experiences within populations and communities.
What would you like to do next?
The doctor took some details from the presentation cues of the parent in the room. The parent was dirty from work and smelling like smoke, so the doctor was hesitant to believe the words of the parent on how long the child has been suffering. [This is an example of classicism coming out to play.] In addition, the doctor assumed the smell of smoke belonged to the parent and as such the kid had suffered respiratory distress from the second-hand smoke which irritated the child's lungs and led to bronchitis. The doctor made one more assumption. The doctor assumed that the parent wasn't around to know the true onset of the breathing difficulties, or perhaps exaggerated their concern, so they thought this might be an acute problem.
These assumptions were incorrect. Often doctors use race and socioeconomic status to make assumptions about the patient, but these assumptions are not always correct. Racism and prejudice tend to inform some decisions and assumptions even though they are not always supported from data.
In this we must recall a distinction in health care that is not always recognized. There is individual health and population health and it is fallacy to apply findings from one to the other because they are not the same thing. People and patients exists as singular identities with their own unique experiences within populations and communities.
What would you like to do next?