Communities of color: Perspectives on race-based medicine

As the research and pharmaceutical enterprises begin to focus on communities of color as individual markets, communities are preparing responses. For example, recent and ongoing community-based initiatives in genetics and health disparities led by the Minnesota Office of Minority and Multicultural Health, Faith Access to Community Economic Development (FACED) in Flint, Michigan, and Flint Odyssey House have collectively brought hundreds of people together to begin to understand the implications of genetics and emerging technologies such as race-based medicine for themselves, their families, and communities.

There is, however, still a lot of work to be accomplished. The gaps in prevention, treatment, knowledge, preparation and training in science and the health profession, continue to be significant and persistent. In addition, access to a culturally competent public health and medical care system is lacking. Racial and ethnic categories used in research are not reflective of a diverse society and, as a consequence, results of research do not capture the reality, attention, or needs of a broad range of social or cultural perspectives. This presentation will draw on our experience in the African American, Latino/Hispanic, Asian, and American Indian communities to frame and lead a discussion of race-based medicine and its real implications for real communities. We will present multiple historical and cultural views on this issue, the challenges and opportunities in community and self-empowerment, as well as avenues for shifting the current research and services paradigm of exclusion to one of inclusion.