“New research revealed that as White adults became more aware of COVID-19 racial disparities, their support for COVID-19 safety precautions and overall concern for the pandemic decreased. Policymakers need to address these public attitudes to limit the impact they have on racial and ethnic minorities, already affected by social determinants of health. Future studies should look at how experts can discuss health inequities while preserving public acceptance of public health measures.”
April 07, 2022 – For more than two years, COVID-19 racial disparities have been a leading theme in pandemic reporting throughout US media platforms. Yet these efforts may be backfiring; the more White people perceived there to be racial disparities, the less they were concerned about the pandemic’s harm, research from the University of Georgia suggested.
“Sharing this information could be doing the exact opposite of what we want it to do,” Allison Skinner-Dorkenoo, lead author of the study and an assistant professor in the department of psychology, said in a public statement. “Ignoring disparities can’t be the answer. But we need to be thinking about what role reporting and the sharing of this information might be playing in perpetuating or making the problem worse.”
The study, published in Social Science and Medicine, recruited 500 White adults to examine their perception of COVID-19 racial disparities and knowledge of systemic factors contributing to health disparities.
Participants were also asked to rank their fear of contracting COVID-19 or having a loved one contract the disease and their support for COVID-19 safety precautions.
The study findings showed when COVID-19 racial disparities were highlighted, White people feared COVID-19 less. In addition, awareness of disparities resulted in reduced support for safety precautions, such as mask mandates, vaccine requirements, and social distancing.
However, those who had pre-existing knowledge about systemic racism and structural causes of COVID-19 racial disparities were more fearful and showed greater support for safety precautions.
Political and social power remains concentrated among White US residents. Thus, attitudes towards public health issues have significant implications for implementing public health policy, researchers stated.
Publicizing COVID-19 racial disparities could reduce support for the policies aimed at limiting the pandemic’s effect on minorities, furthering racial inequality.
In the second part of the study, over 1,500 participants were randomly assigned to read one of three articles about the implications COVID-19 had on the public.
Those who read the articles with information on racial disparities had less fear of COVID-19 and did not back COVID-19 safety measures. Surprisingly, participants given information about disparities in the context of preexisting social inequalities expressed even less concern than the other group.
“What we found is the article that provided added context about systemic inequalities didn’t actually help at all,” Skinner-Dorkenoo said. “It actually made it worse. Whenever there is an issue where people can say, ‘It’s not me. It’s not my group that’s being affected,’ that generally lessens their concerns about it.”
The data did not examine why knowledge about COVID-19 health disparities would decrease support for public health measures. However, extra precautions must be taken when discussing racial health disparities, the researchers stated.
Policymakers need to address these public attitudes to limit the impact they have on racial and ethnic minorities, already affected by social determinants of health. Future studies should look at how experts can discuss health inequities while preserving public acceptance of public health measures.
Despite these paradoxical findings about COVID-19 disparities and acceptance of public health efforts, stakeholders have still been working toward health equity.
Earlier this year, HHS made strides to improve health equity for communities experiencing high social determinants of health burden.
HHS awarded nearly $67 million to boost COVID-19 vaccine confidence and vaccination access.
So far, HHS has distributed nearly $390 million to 158 organizations for the Community-based Workforce for COVID-19 Vaccine Program.
In addition, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at HHS released new guidance tied to legal standards to improve COVID-19 vaccine accessibility and equity in vaccine programs.
HHS wants to guarantee providers are legally obligated to make COVID-19 vaccination programs accessible and free of discriminatory barriers that restrict underserved communities’ ability to receive vaccinations.
Article From: PatientEngagementHIT
Author: Sarai Rodriguez
