course material

1. CCHC 550 Practicing Cultural Competency In Health Care
Answer:
Discussion:
As per our assigned reading, I read an article by Gilbert Gee, Marguerite Ro, and Anne
Rimoin (2020) titled “Seven Reasons to Care About Racism and COVID-19 and Seven Things
to Do to Stop It”. They have brought into focus the underlying racism in the healthcare
domain, not only for the Chinese and other Asian cultures because of the rising cases of
Coronavirus but also for other races and cultures with new diseases. The authors also listed
the difficulties faced by healthcare providers, researchers, and cultures because of racism,
such as the increase of hate crimes, incorrect data, skewed relationships with other
countries, cultural isolation, to name a few (Gee, Ro, & Rimoin, 2020). However, they also
suggested ways to overcome the hurdle of racism in healthcare systems. For example,
improved efforts, data-driven education, governmental policies, introspection about
negative behavior, and more research are the only way out of this imminent doom (Gee, Ro,
& Rimoin, 2020).
Question:
While reading the article, I noticed that China and its citizens are condemned for COVID-19.
In addition to scapegoating and racial discrimination, derogatory remarks, subtle threats,
and mixed messages are common when referring to Chinese and Asian counterparts. This
made me wonder whether racial discrimination is also affected by the political relationships
between countries. The US's relationship with China has been unstable in recent years. Did
the advent of the coronavirus also aggravate China’s already delicate situation with many
countries?
Quotation:
Gee, Ro, and Rimoin (2020) noted the following passage in their article:
We need to develop a stronger infrastructure to track discrimination and to swiftly put
antiracist countermeasures in place. Reinforcing civil rights and promoting equity is critical
as are our efforts to ramp up the production of test kits, treatments, and vaccines. One

2. example is the US Citizenship and Immigration Services recent exemption that treatment of
COVID-19 will not be considered in public charge analysis and, therefore, not harm an
immigrant’s application for citizenship. Although this exemption is laudatory, it does not
apply to other health conditions (i.e., chronic conditions that put individuals at higher risk
for serious complications from COVID-19) and, thus, represents little structural change to
promote equity. This exemption should be applied to all health conditions that, if left
uncontrolled, would result in preventable hospitalizations. (p. 955)
This extract made me realize the importance of government policies for the successful
eradication of racism from our country.
Talking Points:
Familiarity with cultures can lead to more awareness, eventually putting an end to
discriminatory beliefs.
Various reports of hate crimes because of racism have led the younger generation to feel
unsafe and insecure in the present environment.
It would be interesting to follow up on your opinion about the stated talking points.
References
Gee, G. C., Ro, M. J., & Rimoin, A. W. (2020). Seven Reasons to Care About Racism and COVID-
19 and Seven Things to Do to Stop It. American Journal of Public Health, 110(7), 954-955.
https://dx.doi.org/10.2105%2FAJPH.2020.305712.