Going to see a health care provider is often a frustrating and demeaning experience for people of color, as well as those who are LGBTQ or have disabilities, according to a preliminary report by the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network.
The health advocacy group collected testimony from dozens of health care consumers, including Asian and Latino immigrants in Southern California, Native American residents in Sacramento, LGBTQ individuals in Ventura County, black women in Los Angeles, and people with disabilities in the Bay Area.
To improve health care for people from diverse backgrounds, the state needs to do a better job of collecting and measuring demographic data on race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability and language, Savage-Sangwan said. Additionally, consumer health care protections that are already on the books, such as the right to an interpreter, need to be better enforced, she said.
“I think the broader question is, what does the health care system really need to look like to be equitable, so that consumers have an opportunity to have good health?” she said. “I think that’s where we all need to do a lot of thinking together, and particularly bring the voices of consumers to the forefront of that conversation.”
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