U.S. health care is plagued by racism, and nowhere is that more evident than in the nation’s 15,000 nursing homes. Whether it’s COVID, care quality, or inappropriate drugging, research consistently shows significant disparities that impact Black nursing home residents.
On this episode, Dr. Shekinah Fashaw-Walters – Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota and Fesler-Lampert Chair in Aging Studies – discusses the policies, practices, and structures that disadvantage marginalized communities. In the interview, we chat about the historic and contemporary forms of racism, the colorblind policies failing nursing home residents, new research on schizophrenia diagnoses, and what you – as a family member, researcher, or resident advocate – can do with all this information.
Interview recorded July 19, 2022 and edited for clarity.
- Following Shekinah on Twitter @SFWaltersPhD and check out Shekinah’s website: https://www.sfwalters.com/.
- Shekinah led LTCCC’s March webinar on racism as a fundamental cause of LTC inequities.
- Study: Disproportionate increases in schizophrenia diagnoses among Black nursing home residents with ADRD. (Featured in the New York Times).
- NY Times: Phony Diagnoses Hide High Rates of Drugging at Nursing Homes.
- NursingHome411 Dementia Care Advocacy Toolkit.
- Shekinah’s recommendations:
- New research from University of Minnesota on serious mental illness in nursing home literature: 1) A scoping review and 2) Stakeholder perspectives.
- Beyoncé’s “Break My Soul”
Host: Eric Goldwein
Production Assistant: Stefan Foster
Music: Liturgy of the Street by Shane Ivers – https://www.silvermansound.com
This is the work of the LTCCC. It does not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Health, nor has the Department verified the accuracy of its content.
