Celebrating Black History Month
February is Black History Month all around the world. It is a chance to educate ourselves on their culture and celebrate their achievements. Every February, people around the world participate in Black History Month festivities and events that honour their legacy and their communities. We should also take this time to reflect on inequality and racial disparity gaps in health care. Statistics Canada found that in 2020, about “63% of Canada’s Black population reported experiencing discrimination 5 years prior…or during the pandemic, nearly double the proportion of the White population (32%)”. This statistic puts into perspective how present these inequality gaps are throughout our nation. The health care industry has made a notable attempt to eliminate these gaps through telemedicine, which has been very successful in accelerating show rates to follow-up appointments.
How telehealth promotes Black Health and Wellness
This year’s theme for Black History Month is Black Health and Wellness. This theme emphasizes health care access and improving wellness among Black communities. Telemedicine has made disruptive changes that significantly impact Black communities’ access to health care. In a study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania, it was found that telemedicine played a huge role in closing the racial health gap. The research team found that telehealth was closely linked to “decreased time to follow-up for an appointment after hospital discharge, and increased completion of post-hospital follow-up discharge visits”. In general, telehealth opened up access to quality health care to a larger more-inclusive population. Wide-spread access to telemedicine increased visit completion rates from 52% to 70% during the pandemic. This uptick is due to telehealth being readily accessible to anyone regardless of location, which previously prevented the racial disparity gaps in health care from being addressed.
How Porton Health celebrates and supports Black History Month
Porton Health is proud to support Black communities through our commitment to delivering essential health services to patients. We help ensure everyone has access to an affordable opinion on health issues through our virtual meeting platform known as MeetApp. Going forward, we will continue to help eliminate racial inequalities by making health care accessible to everyone irrespective of race or geographical location.
To learn more about our apps, email us at connect@portonhealth.com.
For more info on Black history organizations and educational resources, please go to https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/black-history-month/resources.html
References:
Ahébée, S. (n.d.). Study: Rise in telemedicine during the pandemic eliminated a historic racial health gap. The Philadelphia Tribune. https://www.phillytrib.com/news/health/study-rise-in-telemedicine-during-the-pandemic-eliminated-a-historic-racial-health-gap/article_3cb8bdd0-87a7-11ec-b526-cbda070cf5cc.html
Government of Canada, S. C. (2022, January 12). Black History Month 2022… By the numbers. https://www.statcan.gc.ca/en/dai/smr08/2022/smr08_259
Heritage, C. (2021, January 29). Black history organizations and educational resources [Campaigns]. https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/black-history-month/resources.html