The Future of Emotional Healthcare is Equitable

From left to right: Christian Lawson, Tawanna Williams BASc, Robyn Kinebrew MA, LaToshia Rouse CD (DONA) BS

Understanding factors that weigh heavily on Black patients and families with chronic conditions during hospitalization is key to minimizing the strain of admission and optimizing outcomes. Black patients and families carry the trauma of the lived experience of implicit bias and structural racism. Three Black parents and one Black patient, members of the Roadmap Project Patient and Parent Advisory Group, share their experiences in The impact of being Black while living with a chronic condition: Inpatient perspectives, published this month in the Journal of Hospital Medicine. This article calls attention to identified areas of concern for Black patients and parents during hospitalization and discusses actionable strategies for improvement.

“This paper is so important for clinicians like me to read ... These stories show what is happening for Black families behind all the noise of inpatient stays,” notes co-author Christine Schuler, MD MPH, pediatric hospitalist. 

The Roadmap Project is made possible with support from the American Board of Pediatrics Foundation and the David R. Clare and Margaret C. Clare Foundation.