Addressing Healthcare Disparities Begins With Supporting Underrepresented Students at Undergraduate Level

The Association of Schools Advancing Health Professions is working with member institutions to ensure a diverse pipeline of healthcare workers.

Disparities in healthcare have been aggravated throughout the duration of the pandemic.

Whether they stem from socioeconomic factors or lack of awareness when it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), if not addressed they can negatively affect the quality of care and service patients receive. Research has shown that disparities ins relationships between patients and their healthcare providers can make the process of offering care or treatment difficult.

The Association for Schools Advancing Health Professions (ASAHP) is actively working to ensure a diverse pipeline of future health professionals beginning at the undergraduate level.

In addition to institutions recruiting students from underrepresented backgrounds, ASAHP president, Deb Larsen PhD, FAPTA, FASAHP, explained the importance of making sure those students are supported once they're enrolled.

"It's not just getting them on campus, it's making sure they're successful once they get there," she said. "That's navigating the complexities of admission, registration, and housing; but also helping them feel like they belong at the university and in the program."

As director of the School of Health and Rehabilitation Services at The Ohio State University, Larsen has begun implementing several "best practices" to better serve underrepresented students. These include changes to the admissions process, for example, lessening the emphasis on standardized test scores and grades, and instead emphasizing the experiences and attributes of the applicant.

"Those kinds of things, we think, make for good health professionals. I think changing the way we admit students is a key part of this, and I think the same happens at the faculty level," Larsen said. "We need to make sure we're hiring faculty that represent diversity of experience and ideas, and not just [because they] come from the top PhD programs or have the strongest research program."

Having recently established a DEI committee within the organization, ASAHP is facilitating other schools, such as Florida A&M University, a historically black university, with implementing similar changes.

Understanding a patient's background and experiences can affect the conversations and relationships they have with healthcare workers, says Cynthia Hughes Harris, PhD, dean of Florida A&M's School of Allied Health Sciences.

"First, we have to help our students realize that diversity is a piece of the health puzzle that we are putting together as we work with patients and clients and how it influences statistics," she explained.

While diversity usually is perceived to be a "black and white" issue, Hughes Harris said it's really what makes an individual unique from other individuals.

As the healthcare industry makes progress with diversity and inclusivity, the disparities  will improve, Larsen said.

"I think there's enough research to say that people tend to seek out healthcare providers that look like them and understand them, and they are more apt to follow directions and be compliant in their plan of care if they have a connection with their healthcare provider," Larsen said.

"You want diversity of thought, you want a diversity of experience of experience, you want a diversity of personal characteristics," she said. "You just want to embrace that whole plethora of characteristics."