After reading Medical Aprtheid several years ago, I made a promise to myself to read it annually. It serves as a reminder of the reason why I’m doing this work...bridging the gap between researchers, healthcare and the community...increasing trust...establishing and maintaining genuine relationships between the institution and the community.
There are many historical events that contributed to mistrust of healthcare and research, like the Tuskegee syphilis experiment and Henrietta Lacks story, which we hear about often, and there are many others that we don’t hear so much about.<\p>
One study that was discussed involved young Black boys:
Instead of doing simple tests and an overnight stay as they promised, researchers stopped all of the boys’ medications used to manage their medical conditions for a month, drastically changed their diet over a four day period, and withheld food from them the night before they were to receive the experimental drug. The parents did not know. There is so much more I’m leaving out.
If you are doing community-engaged research in the Black community, please take the time to learn the history so you can understand the generational context of the mistrust.
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