Robert W. Sessoms, MD

It was encouraging to see your editorial, “Systemic racism and health disparities: a statement from editors of family medicine journals” (J Fam Pract. 2021;70:3-5), because to solve a problem you must first recognize the problem exists. There was a publication several years ago that went deeply into this subject.¹ I worked with the Medicaid population for 20 years, and I observed things similar to what was described in that paper.

Health disparities should be looked at as if structured around zip codes. People who live in low-income/­poverty areas usually have to deal with at least 3 main problems. The first issue involves lack of healthy food options. In low-income areas, food choice is often limited, forcing many to purchase their meals from fast food restaurants, dollar stores, or a “corner store.” In addition to being a food desert, a low-income area may have a poor public school system, and studies have shown that good health outcomes are linked to higher education. Poor medical intelligence is another problem connected to low-income patients. These patients tend to have a hard time keeping up with what medicine they are taking and cannot offer much insight into their medical condition. Furthermore, it is possible that in a busy practice, patient education is not what it should be, and a patient’s silence during a visit should not be accepted as an understanding of what a doctor has told them.

Hopefully, recognizing these issues will help provide a starting point for each doctor to gain better awareness into this problem.

Robert W. Sessoms, MD
Daytona Beach, FL

It was encouraging to see your editorial, “Systemic racism and health disparities: a statement from editors of family medicine journals” (J Fam Pract. 2021;70:3-5), because to solve a problem you must first recognize the problem exists. There was a publication several years ago that went deeply into this subject.¹ I worked with the Medicaid population for 20 years, and I observed things similar to what was described in that paper.

Health disparities should be looked at as if structured around zip codes. People who live in low-income/­poverty areas usually have to deal with at least 3 main problems. The first issue involves lack of healthy food options. In low-income areas, food choice is often limited, forcing many to purchase their meals from fast food restaurants, dollar stores, or a “corner store.” In addition to being a food desert, a low-income area may have a poor public school system, and studies have shown that good health outcomes are linked to higher education. Poor medical intelligence is another problem connected to low-income patients. These patients tend to have a hard time keeping up with what medicine they are taking and cannot offer much insight into their medical condition. Furthermore, it is possible that in a busy practice, patient education is not what it should be, and a patient’s silence during a visit should not be accepted as an understanding of what a doctor has told them.

Hopefully, recognizing these issues will help provide a starting point for each doctor to gain better awareness into this problem.

Robert W. Sessoms, MD
Daytona Beach, FL

It was encouraging to see your editorial, “Systemic racism and health disparities: a statement from editors of family medicine journals” (J Fam Pract. 2021;70:3-5), because to solve a problem you must first recognize the problem exists. There was a publication several years ago that went deeply into this subject.¹ I worked with the Medicaid population for 20 years, and I observed things similar to what was described in that paper.

Health disparities should be looked at as if structured around zip codes. People who live in low-income/­poverty areas usually have to deal with at least 3 main problems. The first issue involves lack of healthy food options. In low-income areas, food choice is often limited, forcing many to purchase their meals from fast food restaurants, dollar stores, or a “corner store.” In addition to being a food desert, a low-income area may have a poor public school system, and studies have shown that good health outcomes are linked to higher education. Poor medical intelligence is another problem connected to low-income patients. These patients tend to have a hard time keeping up with what medicine they are taking and cannot offer much insight into their medical condition. Furthermore, it is possible that in a busy practice, patient education is not what it should be, and a patient’s silence during a visit should not be accepted as an understanding of what a doctor has told them.

Hopefully, recognizing these issues will help provide a starting point for each doctor to gain better awareness into this problem.

Robert W. Sessoms, MD
Daytona Beach, FL