Multiple Myeloma in the Black Community: Advocacy - Everyday Health

A number of factors may contribute to a collective reluctance among Black people to speak up on their own behalf about healthcare issues. One has to do with long-held attitudes about Black Americans on the part of doctors.

For example, a study published in 2022 in the journal PNAS found that implicit racial bias by healthcare providers puts the onus on Black patients to do the heavy lifting when it comes to communication. In other words, whether they realize it or not, doctors may not ask their Black patients questions or invite input from them.

People don’t trust us within the medical community. There’s good reason for that.

— Joseph Mikhael, MD, chief medical officer of the International Myeloma Foundation

In a Facebook Live presentation about disparities in healthcare, Joseph Mikhael, MD, chief medical officer of the International Myeloma Foundation, said trust is another issue.

“People don’t trust us within the medical community. There’s good reason for that,” he said, citing the advent of fake medical news that occurred in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. For someone who’s Black and living with myeloma, this may mean holding back simply because they aren’t sure their doctor will be straight with them.

Another challenge is communication style on the part of Black patients. “We can be bold,” says Marsha Calloway-Campbell, director of the Black Myeloma Health Initiative at the HealthTree Foundation, “which can be interpreted as argumentative, difficult, angry, aggressive, all of that. But that’s because healthcare providers don’t understand us.”

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Multiple Myeloma in the Black Community: Advocacy - Everyday Health
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