An Exploration of the Embodiment of Racism, Discrimination, and Mistrust, and their Implications for Black Health in Canada

Willingness to adhere to health directives has been linked to trust, and the growing mistrust in public health which was unveiled by the COVID-19 pandemic was illustrated by the significantly decreased uptake in mandates and interventions such as masking, quarantine, and vaccinations. Many of the studies that map the impact of COVID-19 on population health showed that marginalized groups tended to be disproportionately overrepresented in cases counts - a consequence of the hesitancy to adhere to certain public health guidelines. Specifically, mistrust has played a key role in directly impacting health outcomes within Black communities and is further compounded by individual and collective perceptions of the efficacy of biomedical methods as influenced by past personal and collective negative healthcare-related experiences. Here, I propose that the current epidemic of mistrust should be a public health concern which incites an increased focus on developing interventions to address mistrust and hesitancy across Black communities in Canada. Our western notions of the mechanisms mistrust, which generally ignore the underpinnings of race and racism, need to be re-defined to account for the lived experiences of Black healthcare consumers. To this end, to provide a picture of the current state of this emerging area of study, my research will gather knowledge on the embodiment of racism and discrimination, its influence on the mechanisms that breed mistrust, and its implications for Black health in Canada. I will develop a scoping review that summarizes what is known, and highlights where the knowledge gaps exist. An understanding of the mechanisms of mistrust among Black communities is crucial to inform the way health professionals address this growing epidemic in Canada.