One of the inevitable problems with venturing into an area like healthcare disparities is that it’s such a wide ranging subject it’s easy to get mired in the details or come across as dispassionate. But in a fireside chat at the MedCity ENGAGE conference, Michael Willis, a business information officer with Kaiser Permanente used a few vivid examples spanning technology, environment and a simple procedure with a tragic conclusion.
Technology What makes technology such a significant health disparity is that it’s so pervasive in our culture. If you consider just how many people get at least some of their health information through Google searches, from locating healthcare resources in the community to finding it’s a major disadvantage not to have a computer or easy access to a library or the money to to use one. But beyond that, there has to be a powerful motivator. Willis used his family as an example. If his mother wants to be able to see her granddaughter and she’s not responding to a phone call, she needs to be able to use Facetime. Personal motivation can br powerful, Willis observed.
Social determinants of health Willis recounted a grad student in his class who was always 30-45 minutes late, inevitably with a McDonald’s sandwich for her meal. The lack of supermarkets or easy access to direct transportation limited her options and raised her health risk. The relatively small number of supermarkets in some urban neighborhoods and rural areas exacerbates the problem. So environment plays a role, as does employment and mental health.
In a tragic story that served as a crossroads of health disparity and social determinant, Willis recalled a boy who died of a tooth abscess. Although the mother was give a prescription for a painkiller and an antibiotic, she couldn’t afford both so she opted for the painkiller. But because the antibiotics were never purchased, he later succumbed to the infection.
In October, Willis will host a health equity symposium at Johns Hopkins to examine health disparities in Baltimore and how to address some of them. It won’t be an academic conference, Willis said, but it will try to touch people in that environment around Johns Hopkins.”This is not about sabre rattling, but about what we can actually go out and do in those immediate environments. We need to eliminate tradeoffs [in health].”
