Racial equity in and through medical interaction scholarship: A scoping review

We conducted a systematic scoping review to characterize the landscape of communication scholarship within racial health equity in and through the patient-provider interaction.

We employed three waves of data collection to identify relevant articles (N = 454) about racial equity within provider-patient interactions. We iteratively developed a codebook concerning article characteristics, coding for journal names, data source, descriptive characteristics for the study samples, and presence of theory and equity in sections of the manuscripts.

This search identified studies (N = 206) that were published in 76 peer-reviewed scientific journals. The majority of studies reported primary data analyses and used survey and interview methodology. Many studies examined participants as patients generally rather than in reference to particular health conditions. Among those with a specific health condition, the largest proportion focused on cancer control. Very few studies included samples with Native American and Pacific Island heritage. Most studies included cisgender men and/or women, but none included transgender men or women. The vast majority of research focused on the patient experience; few centered on providers' and caregivers' experiences. The body of scholarship was largely atheoretical; the most frequently noted constructs were patient-provider communication (including patient-centered communication and patient-centered care), implicit/explicit racial bias, shared decision-making. There was wide variation in the extent to which equity was woven through the manuscripts. Equity is typically mentioned in the literature review, and racial identity in the sample may serve as a marker of racialized experiences.

This study demonstrates the need for the development of theory that elevates the centrality of health equity to attend to the bi- or multi-directional flow of communication that shapes the quality of these interactions.

These insights can serve as a strong foundation for the development of interventions to address equity in clinical interactions.