Race & Empathy In Medical Centers

Can race (or any difference) affect the quality of care that a patient receives at any medical center?

from CNN

In the study, which appears in the journal Current Biology, people of Italian and African descent watched short film clips that showed needles pricking black- and white-skinned hands. As they watched, researchers measured the participants' empathy (i.e., their nervous-system activity) by monitoring sensors attached to the same spot on their hands. They also tracked the participants' heart rates and sweat-gland activity, a common measure of emotional response.

"White observers reacted more to the pain of white than black models, and black observers reacted more to the pain of black than white models," says the lead researcher, Alessio Avenanti, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Bologna.

The researchers also showed clips of a needle pricking a hand painted bright purple. Both the Italian and African participants were more likely to empathize with this intentionally strange-looking hand than with the hand of another race, which implies that the earlier lack of empathy was due to skin color, not just difference. "This is quite important, because it suggests that humans tend to empathize by default unless prejudice is at play," says Avenanti...

..."A doctor with high racial bias may understand the pain of other-race patients in a more detached or disembodied manner and, in principle, this may contribute to the causes of racial disparities in health care," Avenanti says.

Previous research has shown that doctors tend to empathize more with a patient's pain -- and provide higher-quality care -- if they have a history of pain themselves, or if someone close to them has experienced chronic, debilitating pain, Dr. Green says.

"Now we are understanding that if you see someone as being more like you, you can empathize with their pain better," she says. "Race, age, gender, and class probably play a role in how we assess and treat patients with pain."

So does that mean that, say, an African American with low back pain should seek out only doctors who are African American?

Not necessarily. Green says it's more important to find a doctor who actively listens to you and asks questions.

"If you feel you are not heard, or that your pain complaints are not being taken seriously, you can and should see another doctor," she says.

Interesting article and worth keeping in mind around your medical center when you have a varied patient population.

Re-evaluating Your Medical Spas Skin Typing Practices

If patients haven't already started coming to your practice for laser hair removal for silky smooth summertime skin, they're probably starting now. And now is a more dangerous time than ever for them to start laser therapies especially if you or your staff isn't adequately trained on proper skin typing and assessment.

If you're like most practices, you will request a patient complete a skin typing worksheet to determine their Fitzpatrick Skin Type. A couple of problems arise here. First, you're depending on your client to complete the chart and be accurate and honest. Many technicians only look at the final score and never really go over each question. Are they really blonde, or is their hair colored? Do they really tan easily without burning if they're a freckled red-head? Verifying each answer the client has chosen is the responsibility of the technician who should be comfortable "overruling" an answer upon using their own eyes to verify.

Another problem that can arise is exposure to the sun, tanning beds, spray or bottle tans. This is the time of the year where your client may start false tanning. This pigment applied to the skin can very much interact with the laser parameters you have set; therefore, you will need to make an adjustment. Or, they could walk in on a Monday after getting some sun on Saturday and their legs will be a little "pink" to them which should look like a big red flag to you!

Even though a patient may be a repeat client, that shouldn't rule them out from completing a new form and being reassessed prior to treatment this time. Just because they weren't tanned last year when they had their chin and upper lip done doesn't mean they won't be tanned this year when they come in to have their legs treated.

Skin typing should be performed at every laser session, not just the initial visit, as there could be subtle changes each session. If you are a laser technician or aesthetician who is uncomfortable with skin typing your clients, or you have staff personnel you feel lack the necessary understanding of proper skin typing, you might want to consider the Medical Spa Aesthetics Course, Study Guide, and Advanced IPL & Laser Training course available on MedicalSpaMD exclusively. The Patient Selection Chapter discusses Laser Applications, Patient Selection, Skin Color, Skin Typing, The Fitzpatrick Classification Scale, Skin Classification by Ethnicity Type, Medical History, Physical Examination, and Contraindications for Treatment.

Great patient results begin with proper education to develop solid standards of practice. Your patients don't want to get burned, and neither do you.

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