The COVID-19 pandemic exposes the long-standing inequity and systemic health disparities between members of racial and ethnic groups vs. members of the majority culture. According to the CDC racial data tracker (https://covidtracking.com/race), black people are dying at more than twice the rate of white people with American Indian and Latinx following close behind. Disturbingly, these data represent a long standing bias in the socio-political healthcare system and the pandemic has simply highlighted a multi-faceted, health care crisis that demands a response. The crisis is fueled by a complex mix of factors including societal racial bias, access and utilization of health care services, environmental contaminants secondary to housing and urban environments, education and income gaps and differences in occupational exposure to health risks. This panel of experts will explore aspects of these health disparities as well as call to action for the health service psychologists to engage in advocacy to address this historical pattern of discrimination that affects quality of life and race-based mortality.
Learning Objectives
Participants will be able to:
1. Articulate at least three examples of health disparities experienced by various populations within the current COVID-19 pandemic and their consequences for long-term health and well-being.
2. Explain the role psychologists need to play in meeting the needs of disproportionately affected populations, at the level of individual patients, groups, and systems.
3. Describe instructional and training methods to instruct students in health service psychology to meet the needs of disproportionately affected populations.