Institutional and individual discrimination can also reduce non-dominant groups’ access to a broad range of desirable goods and services. Medical care is one example. Discrimination can affect both access to care and the quality and intensity of medical treatment. U.S. research reveals that residential segregation can affect access to medical care by determining both the particular institutions where minorities access care and the type and quality of their health care providers. In segregated minority communities, health care facilities are more likely to close, pharmacies are less likely to be adequately stocked with medication, and residents are more likely to be treated by lower-quality physicians who are less able to refer to specialty care (Williams and Jackson 2005). In addition, there are large racial/ethnic differences in the quality and intensity of medical care with blacks and other minorities receiving fewer medical procedures and poorer quality medical care than whites (Smedley et al. 2003). This pattern persists even when differences in health insurance, SES, stage and severity of disease, co-morbidity, and the type of medical facility are taken into account. Cultural racism
