February 7, 2023 – Women, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, and members of the LBGTQ+ community are much more likely than other groups to distrust their healthcare providers and the healthcare system in general, according to polling commissioned by Sanofi.
In a January 31 commentary in Fortune, Michelle Williams, dean of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Paul Hudson, CEO of Sanofi, discussed the polling and suggested solutions to help close the trust gap. They recommended diversifying the healthcare workforce and investing in prevention. They also urged health care providers to be better listeners. “That means recognizing and overcoming unconscious bias, seeing every patient before them as an individual with dignity and worth, and taking the time to understand why each patient has come in seeking care,” they wrote.
The authors noted that lack of trust in the healthcare system can cost lives, because those who need care may avoid seeking preventive care or treatment. They wrote, “Restoring trust will help close the huge disparities in health outcomes and move us steadily toward a more equitable—and healthier—world for all.”
Read the Fortune article: People are much less likely to trust the medical system if they are from an ethnic minority, have disabilitites, or identify as LGBTQ+, according to a first-of-its-kind study by Sanofi