What Causes Racial Health Care Disparities? A Mixed-Methods Study Reveals Variability in How Health Care Providers Perceive Causal Attributions.
Progress to address health care equity requires health care providers' commitment, but their engagement may depend on their perceptions of the factors contributing to inequity. To understand providers' perceptions of causes of racial health care disparities, a short survey was delivered to health care providers who work at 3 Veterans Health Administration sites, followed by qualitative interviews (N = 53). Survey data indicated that providers attributed the causes of disparities to social and economic conditions more than to patients' or providers' behaviors. Qualitative analysis revealed differences in the meaning that participants ascribed to these causal factors. Participants who believed providers contribute to disparities discussed race and racism more readily, identified the mechanisms through which disparities emerge, and contextualized patient-level factors more than those who believed providers contributed less to disparities. Differences in provider understanding of the underlying causal factors suggest a multidimensional approach to engage providers in health equity efforts.
['Gollust|Sarah E|SE|0000-0001-6109-5953', 'Cunningham|Brooke A|BA|', 'Bokhour|Barbara G|BG|', 'Gordon|Howard S|HS|', 'Pope|Charlene|C|', 'Saha|Somnath S|SS|', 'Jones|Dina M|DM|0000-0002-7002-0547', 'Do|Tam|T|', 'Burgess|Diana J|DJ|0000-0003-1139-7739']
D000328:Adult D000368:Aged D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel D005260:Female D006282:Health Personnel D054625:Healthcare Disparities D006801:Humans D007407:Interviews as Topic D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D011369:Professional-Patient Relations D036301:Qualitative Research D063505:Racism D012959:Socioeconomic Factors D014481:United States D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs
health care disparities Veterans health qualitative interviews health equity health personnel surveys and questionnaires