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Physicians' Views on Today's Divisive Social Issues Report 2022: Strong Emotions, Contrary Opinions
Jon McKenna | May 27, 2022
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Physicians' Views on Today's Divisive Social Issues Report 2022: Strong Emotions, Contrary Opinions
Jon McKenna | May 27, 2022 | Contributor Information
The United States is now sharply divided on many important questions, and physicians are part of that dialogue. We asked physicians for their opinions on 10 controversial social issues that Americans feel strongly about — how they stand, the relative importance they give, and how each issue has affected their lives and families.
Over 2340 physicians in more than 29 specialties gave their takes on climate change, gun control, racial disparities, immigration and refugee policies, reproductive rights, gender discrimination, domestic violence, LGBTQ+ rights, healthcare access, and substance/opioid abuse.
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Physicians' Views on Today's Divisive Social Issues Report 2022: Strong Emotions, Contrary Opinions
Jon McKenna | May 27, 2022 | Contributor Information
It seems unsurprising that large majorities of physicians include healthcare access and substance/opioid abuse among their five leading social issues. Improving healthcare access is a major national priority right now. Also, President Biden made health insurance availability a major campaign plank and recently proposed Affordable Care Act reforms. In the "Other" category, physicians often named government interference in medicine, mental health, the economy and inflation, and poverty as important social issues.
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Physicians' Views on Today's Divisive Social Issues Report 2022: Strong Emotions, Contrary Opinions
Jon McKenna | May 27, 2022 | Contributor Information
In 2020, about 31 million US residents had no health insurance coverage, and 38 million more had inadequate healthcare coverage and were thus considered underinsured.
It makes sense that nearly 8 in 10 physicians have an appreciable level of concern about healthcare access. Surveys show that many people skip doctor visits, treatment, or recommended tests because of cost. By a wide margin, healthcare access was the most frequently cited social issue in our survey (see previous slide).
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Physicians' Views on Today's Divisive Social Issues Report 2022: Strong Emotions, Contrary Opinions
Jon McKenna | May 27, 2022 | Contributor Information
About 7 in 10 physicians think a single payer (ie, the federal government) should be at least partly responsible for making sure people in the US have healthcare coverage, either on its own or in partnership with insurers. Does the general public feel the federal government should be responsible for providing healthcare to all Americans? In one study, 63% of US adults said yes. Only 1 in 4 physicians think the traditional health insurance approach is the right path forward.
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Physicians' Views on Today's Divisive Social Issues Report 2022: Strong Emotions, Contrary Opinions
Jon McKenna | May 27, 2022 | Contributor Information
Studies show that racial inequities are a major public concern in the United States. The White House is aggressively addressing racial disparities, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention categorizes racism as a serious threat to public health.
"It's important that we realize the impact that racism has in the US on our healthcare system and other systems," says Ada Stewart, MD, board chair at the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). "As family physicians, we every day see racism's impact in the care of our patients. It's important that we recognize we need to fight against this."
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Physicians' Views on Today's Divisive Social Issues Report 2022: Strong Emotions, Contrary Opinions
Jon McKenna | May 27, 2022 | Contributor Information
The majority of physicians who feel that patients get differing levels of medical treatment based on race are correct, AAFP's Stewart believes.
Whereas more than three fourths of physicians say racial inequality still needs to be addressed, only about half think that the issue spills over into patient situations. "Recognizing there are racial disparities…gives us the opportunity to improve" on equity in medical care, she says.
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Physicians' Views on Today's Divisive Social Issues Report 2022: Strong Emotions, Contrary Opinions
Jon McKenna | May 27, 2022 | Contributor Information
Gender discrimination persists in the US, as many studies and reports make clear. The challenges that women physicians face don't ease with age and seniority. Despite progress and rising awareness, many physicians say that implicit gender bias persists in academic medical centers and among academic doctors generally. And unintended gender bias trickles over into patient care. (Some respondents to our survey were neutral about gender discrimination.)
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Physicians' Views on Today's Divisive Social Issues Report 2022: Strong Emotions, Contrary Opinions
Jon McKenna | May 27, 2022 | Contributor Information
Physicians expressed a wide range of opinions on and complaints about gender discrimination in healthcare.
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Physicians' Views on Today's Divisive Social Issues Report 2022: Strong Emotions, Contrary Opinions
Jon McKenna | May 27, 2022 | Contributor Information
In the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, the US Supreme Court that held women have a constitutional right to an abortion. However, the court's conservative majority could overturn this ruling later in 2022. In the meantime, some states are acting to restrict abortion availability on the basis of a more conservative fetus-viability standard and other factors. Abortion restrictions were signed into law in at least nine states so far in 2022, and 22 did so in 2021.
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Physicians' Views on Today's Divisive Social Issues Report 2022: Strong Emotions, Contrary Opinions
Jon McKenna | May 27, 2022 | Contributor Information
In a country where access to abortion rights has always been an emotionally charged subject, physicians' opinions vary widely. About 1 in 4 physicians support the right to an abortion at any time. But more than 3 in 10 doctors would allow abortions only in the first trimester or under limited circumstances, or would ban the procedure.
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Physicians' Views on Today's Divisive Social Issues Report 2022: Strong Emotions, Contrary Opinions
Jon McKenna | May 27, 2022 | Contributor Information
Gun control is a controversial issue for physicians. Arguments have been waged for years about whether doctors should ask patients if they own guns. Many medical organizations and publications urge doctors to take a strong public stance and to discuss gun use with patients not only to maintain office and home safety but also as a health measure. The American College of Physicians is on record supporting "common-sense restrictions" to reduce injuries and deaths, a stance that drew the wrath of the National Rifle Association. Surveys show that a majority of doctors support tighter controls — but also that many own guns themselves.
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Physicians' Views on Today's Divisive Social Issues Report 2022: Strong Emotions, Contrary Opinions
Jon McKenna | May 27, 2022 | Contributor Information
In our survey and others, doctors strongly favor certain gun ownership restrictions, such as on background checks and required psychological exams, more so than the general public does.
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Physicians' Views on Today's Divisive Social Issues Report 2022: Strong Emotions, Contrary Opinions
Jon McKenna | May 27, 2022 | Contributor Information
Nearly 8 in 10 physicians have a substantial level of concern about this crisis; very few are unworried. The statistics speak for themselves. When the federal government estimates more than 10 million people in the US aged 12 years or older misuse opioids each year, those troubles will find their way into doctor's offices. The country has lost more than 700,000 lives to drug overdoses since 2000, and 1 in 5 people has used illicit drugs at least once.
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Physicians' Views on Today's Divisive Social Issues Report 2022: Strong Emotions, Contrary Opinions
Jon McKenna | May 27, 2022 | Contributor Information
Approximately 20 million people in the US battle a substance abuse disorder each year, and 95% of physicians in our survey tell us that they treat a patient with a drug problem at least occasionally.
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Physicians' Views on Today's Divisive Social Issues Report 2022: Strong Emotions, Contrary Opinions
Jon McKenna | May 27, 2022 | Contributor Information
About 36% of physicians said that they were concerned or very concerned about LGBTQ+ rights. Of the 10 social issues in our survey, it was least often selected among respondents' five most important.
"There's perhaps a lack of understanding and awareness that social issues have a real impact on the physical and mental health of LGBTQ people," says Hector Vargas, executive director of GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality. "These impacts lead to health disparities. You cannot disconnect LGBTQ rights and health."
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Physicians' Views on Today's Divisive Social Issues Report 2022: Strong Emotions, Contrary Opinions
Jon McKenna | May 27, 2022 | Contributor Information
"A high number of LGBTQ patients say they experience a lack of understanding [from physicians and medical staff] about the care they need or environments that were unwelcome to them for whatever reason," says Vargas of GLMA. "Things like wrong pronouns, not having their spouses recognized, being asked questions that are not sensitive to a transgender person's anatomy."
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Physicians' Views on Today's Divisive Social Issues Report 2022: Strong Emotions, Contrary Opinions
Jon McKenna | May 27, 2022 | Contributor Information
About two thirds of physicians report substantial levels of concern about domestic violence. Many doctors are trained to play an important role in identifying and responding to intimate partner violence. But research shows that healthcare professionals feel they need more time working with patients and improved privacy, referral, and other protocols to make a difference with domestic violence.
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Physicians' Views on Today's Divisive Social Issues Report 2022: Strong Emotions, Contrary Opinions
Jon McKenna | May 27, 2022 | Contributor Information
An estimated 10 million women and men in the US fall victim to domestic violence each year. That helps explain why about 7 in 10 physicians feel the country is not doing a good enough job with this societal crisis.
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Physicians' Views on Today's Divisive Social Issues Report 2022: Strong Emotions, Contrary Opinions
Jon McKenna | May 27, 2022 | Contributor Information
Physicians seem to mirror how US society in general feels about climate change. A solid majority of citizens takes the threat seriously, but a substantial minority either doubts the science or thinks the danger is overstated.
"I have seen studies of specific medical specialties showing somewhat higher levels of concern, yet I regularly encounter providers who ask why we would teach physicians about the impacts of climate change," says Aaron Bernstein, MD, interim director of the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Bernstein finds our poll results "somewhat encouraging" and expects the levels of concerned physicians to climb. "I suspect if you ask a younger audience, you will find a generational effect in understanding the issue. We still have a lot to do to help providers grasp that climate change is both a public health issue and directly affects the ability to do our jobs, when you look at some of the weather events that have interfered with hospital operations."
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Physicians' Views on Today's Divisive Social Issues Report 2022: Strong Emotions, Contrary Opinions
Jon McKenna | May 27, 2022 | Contributor Information
Bernstein finds physicians' skepticism that climate change directly affects their patients' health to be concerning.
"Every person in this country has been affected. Just to give one example, millions of people end up in emergency rooms every year because of heat. And suicides, mental health problems, and gastrointestinal issues all are much higher during heat waves." (Some respondents to our survey were neutral about climate change's impact.)
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Physicians' Views on Today's Divisive Social Issues Report 2022: Strong Emotions, Contrary Opinions
Jon McKenna | May 27, 2022 | Contributor Information
Millions of legal and undocumented immigrants in the US are acknowledged as underserved by the healthcare system. Meanwhile, the American Medical Association's Code of Medical Ethics discusses society's obligation to ensure that everyone has access to adequate healthcare, regardless of ability to pay. Realities like these help explain why more than 6 in 10 physicians are concerned or very concerned about immigration and refugee policies.
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Physicians' Views on Today's Divisive Social Issues Report 2022: Strong Emotions, Contrary Opinions
Jon McKenna | May 27, 2022 | Contributor Information
Despite physicians' concerns about immigration policy, more than one third think immigration laws need to be tougher. This stance differs from that of the general public, with one poll showing most Americans want legal immigration to increase and another revealing two thirds believe the legal immigration process is already "fairly difficult."
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Physicians' Views on Today's Divisive Social Issues Report 2022: Strong Emotions, Contrary Opinions
Jon McKenna | May 27, 2022 | Contributor Information
On some levels, the near-even split on this question makes perfect sense. Some physicians practice in large urban areas and deal with these 10 social issues, and more, every day. Others work in small communities where they are less likely to encounter many of these issues.
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Physicians' Views on Today's Divisive Social Issues Report 2022: Strong Emotions, Contrary Opinions
Jon McKenna | May 27, 2022 | Contributor Information
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Physicians' Views on Today's Divisive Social Issues Report 2022: Strong Emotions, Contrary Opinions
Jon McKenna | May 27, 2022 | Contributor Information
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Physicians' Views on Today's Divisive Social Issues Report 2022: Strong Emotions, Contrary Opinions
Jon McKenna | May 27, 2022 | Contributor Information
Physician Burnout & Depression Report 2022: Stress, Anxiety, and Anger
Physicians had a rough year in 2021, with many feeling more burned out and stressed than they ever have before. Here's what more than 13,000 doctors had to say.
Medscape Features Slideshow, Jan 2022
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