CINCINNATI (WKRC) – A local university is sharing the importance of diversity in health care during this Black History Month.
Mount St. Joseph University is sharing what it’s doing to encourage education in people with diverse backgrounds, especially in health care.
Having health care providers who can understand and meet people in a variety of settings is critical for patients.
Roxana Holland recently appeared on “What’s Happening in Health,” which you can watch at 6 a.m. Sundays on Local 12, to share an example of how her social work team is trying to improve access for all populations.
“We really don’t have equitable access to education in the health care sector. So, our health-related professions is the education only offered during the daytime? Is it only offered during traditional hours?” said Holland, Director of Field Education in the Social Work Program at Mount St. Joseph University. “We can see how the utilization or the misutilization of the black body in health care could create distrust between the black and brown community and health care providers, and then to not see us in our health care providers has a huge impact in trust, in rapport, and our willingness then to be heard, be fully seen, for our pain to be treated as real experiences by the providers that we have.”
Holland said seeing people that look like oneself is also important in all medical fields.