People of African Descent of the Americas, Racial Discrimination, and Quality of the Health Services

Abstract

The WHO urges countries to consider the link between racial discrimination and health and, in particular, the need for further research to study the links between health outcomes and racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance. This article is carried out within the framework of approximation work towards health-related ethnic inequalities among the population of African descent of the Americas. A qualitative methodology was used to conduct 20 in-depth interviews with a group of key informants composed of leaders of African descent, officials from the ministries of health, international health agencies, and international technicians specialised in African descent health and interculturality from six different countries. The extracted data were categorised and encoded, generating quotations and concept maps with Atlas.ti v.8.2. The concurrency coefficients made it possible to link the codes of each subcategory with the central analytical category. The racial discrimination experienced by people of African descent and the quality of health services received poses a problem. Discrimination is faced in all countries, affecting access to services and the quality of health care, and greater discrimination against women is also detected. This shows the need for an activistpolicy and for the inclusion of specific variables in surveys, censuses, and records in order that they may be researched. Claims are made about the complementary role that traditional medicine may play and the fact that the intercultural approach may be a useful strategy for addressing inequalities. The interviewees agree with the reference theory on the existence of racial discrimination and segregation regarding the African descent population of the Americas and how this translates into ethnic inequities in the field of health. Proposals have been put forward both on how to deepen research and how to contribute to the reduction of ethnic inequalities in health issues.

Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Mental Health in Peru: Psychological Distress

“…Telemedicine and informal support groups have been particularly useful in combating mental disorders that could be influenced by over-information, misinformation or the existence of fake news [56]. It is known that cultural determinants play an important role in controlling the behavior of infectious pandemics, as happens with COVID-19, as well as the importance of including cultural values in public health interventions [57] and the existence of inequalities in health care associated with the ethnicity variable in Latin American countries [58]. Previous studies have positively associated neuroticism, extroversion, and kindness with the perceived cost of complying with preventive measures, while awareness showed a negative association [59].…”

Psychological distress during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ecuador: Cross-sectional study

“…In Ecuador, the ethnicity variable is of great importance because of the number and the diversity of ethnicities existing in the country. It is known to be a variable that influences inequality with respect to healthcare services [39], so it can be inferred that it will have influenced the effects of COVID-19 on mental health during the pandemic. In the study at hand, the ethnicity variable was not contemplated, and no differences have been observed in PD either by province or by type of housing.…”

Factors Related to Psychological Distress during the First Stage of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Chilean Population

“…However, it has been found that this health situation has not affected all population sectors in Chile equally [ 10 ]. Thus, as for the indigenous population, the vulnerability indicators previously detected have increased since it is a group that already had inequalities in health [ 11 , 12 ].…”