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Racial and ethnic diversity in the health workforce can facilitate access to healthcare for underserved populations and meet the health needs of an increasingly diverse population. In this study, we explored 1) changes in the racial and ethnic diversity of the health workforce in the United States over the last decade, and 2) evidence on the effectiveness of programs designed to promote racial and ethnic diversity in the U.S. health workforce. Findings suggest that although the health workforce overall is becoming more diverse, people of color are most often represented among the entry-level, lower-skilled health occupations. Promising practices to help facilitate diversity in the health professions were identified in the literature, namely comprehensive programs that integrated multiple interventions and strategies. While some efforts have been found to be promising in increasing the interest, application, and enrollment of racial and ethnic minorities into health profession schools, there is still a missing link in understanding persistence, graduation, and careers. J Allied Health 2018; 47(1):58-65.
A RACIALLY and ethnically diverse health workforce has been shown to promote better access and healthcare for underserved populations as well as to better meet the health needs of an increasingly diverse population.1-3 People of color, however, remain underrepresented in many health professions, despite longstanding efforts to increase the diversity of the healthcare field.4-6 Two recent reports found that a high share of people of color were in entry-level, lower-skilled healthcare occupations that required less than a bachelor's degree (e.g., medical assistants and nursing aides),7,8 many of which fall into the allied health professions. Frogner and Spetz8 noted that these entry-level jobs are the fastest growing, and assuming the share of people of color in them remains stable, the overall health workforce will become increasingly diverse. The quality of these jobs (e.g., whether they pay living wages, whether they lead to career advancement) is a concern, however. Not addressed by these prior studies was how the proportion of people of color in each of these jobs was increasing or decreasing. This information may be useful to policymakers to assess whether the programs to increase diversity have been targeting the right occupations, and how to better target future efforts to diversify the workforce.
Several barriers to achieving a more diverse health workforce have...