In the podcast, Bignall discusses the importance of a systems-based approach in addressing racial injustices that impact patient care, and how this approach is essential in addressing broader injustices, such as poverty, income inequality, and environmental conditions.
In a recent podcast, ASN Executive Vice President Tod Ibrahim spoke with O. N. Ray Bignall II, MD, FASN, Director of Kidney Health Advocacy and Community Engagement at Nationwide Children's Hospital and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine, about the ASN Health Care Justice Committee, which Bignall founded and now chairs.
The committee is charged with emphasizing strategies to improve the overall health of the entire population, especially in populations at risk for and overburdened with kidney diseases; identifying opportunities to address health disparities and influence social determinants of health, particularly in populations at risk for and overburdened with kidney diseases; and confronting the combined significance of high-profile acts of racism and the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the podcast, Bignall discusses the importance of a systems-based approach in addressing racial injustices that impact patient care, and how this approach is essential in addressing broader injustices, such as poverty, income inequality, and environmental conditions. “The root of all of these disparities and inequities that we see in health care is injustice,” he says. “We need to do a better job at educating ourselves on issues both in society and clinical practice that threaten health care equity and health care justice.”
Bignall points out that more needs to be done in the educational space to identify, address, and mitigate injustices. A big part of the work ahead will be educating medical students, residents, trainees, and fellows to recognize the drivers of health disparities and inequities and address them in clinical practice. “We also need to develop more empathetic approaches to providing clinical care,” observes Bignall.
Listen to the podcast here.
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