Pediatric Primary Care Relationships With African American Families: A Critical Review

Abstract

Introduction: High-quality primary care is critical to help African American families mitigate the effects of social determinants of health that negatively affect child health and well-being. At the core of primary care is a healthy relationship between the parent and provider. This critical review of the literature evaluates what is known about the parent−provider relationship for African Americans. Methods: We identified 277 studies in Ovid MEDLINE and screened them for inclusion. Data extraction and qualitative synthesis were used to describe what is known and identify themes. Results: Twelve cross-sectional analyses and one mixed cross-sectional and longitudinal design research studies were identified. Studies identified parent factors, provider factors, parent−provider interaction factors, and health care system factors that affected the parent−provider relationship. Discussion: The results identify best practices and future research directions for providers, which would improve pediatric primary care quality for African American children. J Pediatr Health Care.

Urban, Low-Income, African American Parents' Experiences and Expectations of Well-Child Care

“…African American parents are more likely to say that providers do not understand their parenting needs (Flores et al, 2005). Quantitative data also identified parent-provider relationship challenges such as longitudinality, trust, and family-centeredness of care (Koschmann and Hooke, 2019b). Results from this study identified similar challenges with longitudinality, trust, and family-centeredness of care, as well as other experiences and perceptions that existing literature also endorse (Fig.…”