Imagine the disgrace of receiving filthy dark chocolate as you lie on a hospital bed
Imagine how painful it is to be hurt physically and still forced to hurt emotionally by eating food that disgusts you
All I’m asking for is vanilla milk
White and tender, full of life and blessings
Dark chocolate makes me sick, at least some white chocolate can go well down my throat
Being sick is like being in a dark room with not even a tiny bit of light
The only way to live in there is by shining light
Instead I’m given more darkness, more pain and less hope
Light has never been black, it’s always white
I won’t let the darkness come close to me…
I’d rather die in my pain than allowing an unsophisticated demon like image to try and repair my parts
What if it kills me
I don’t trust such service
Nurse! Get me some milk
Chocolate makes me sick.
By Thabiso Monyela.
This poem is an epitome of racial prejudice in health care. It shows one of my experiences at the hospital whereby I was discriminated against and seen as “not good enough” due to the mere fact that I am black. It is written from a white patient’s perspective. The patient is clearly racist and in the poem, he explains how disgusting he finds black people and how being given a black physiotherapist has added onto his burden. He explains that his health will not be properly taken care of in the hands of a black man. This shows the lack of trust this patient had towards me. The colour of my skin makes it seem as if I am not educated or skilled enough to treat him. He further explains that he would rather die than to be treated by me. Often as black people, we are seen as unworthy and unsuitable to perform our duties at the workplace. The same black man that is deemed inadequate is the very same black man who received the same quality of education as a white man. The colour of his skin puts him at the bottom regardless of how educated and skilled he may be.
When evaluating the incident that occurred, I have realised a few things regarding my clinical practice as a physiotherapist. Very often, we meet people with different belief systems . Certain people will say condescending remarks about us, that however does not mean that we have to treat them any less. This experience has made me grow a thicker skin. Having different views or opinions with a patient does not mean that they deserve less care. I have learnt to be more empathetic in a clinical setting. I have learnt that people’s social environments play a big role in how they view life.
(Hopwood et al., 2011) stipulates that hereditary traits affects your functioning within your environment, and your environment affects the development and expression of your inherited traits. This can be further explained in terms of family, school and social context, such that how you are raised plays a role in your perspective on life. In a clinical setting, it is therefore important to understand the background of a patient , it is important to know that different people come from different environment and therefore will not react the same to situations.
Reference
Hopwood, C., Donnellan, M., Blonigen, D., Krueger, R., McGue, M., Iacono, W. and Burt, S. (2011). Genetic and environmental influences on personality trait stability and growth during the transition to adulthood: A three-wave longitudinal study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100(3), pp.545-556.