Racial disparities in pain management among Black Canadians

Pain Waves

Research shows that Black people are disproportionately impacted by pain and less likely to receive appropriate care when compared to white people.
In this month’s episode of the Pain Waves podcast, we’re joined by researcher Dr. Kimberley Kaseweter and pain advocate Desmond Williams to learn about how racism and discrimination affect Black Canadians when accessing health care for pain management. Kimberley shares findings from her research and Desmond shares his personal experiences with accessing care for pain in BC as a person of colour.
Desmond is 33 and has been living with pain as a result of arthritis since he was an adolescent. He’s of mixed African, European and First Nations ancestry but says that regardless of how he identifies, people see him as a Black man.
Kimberley is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan Campus. She conducts psychological pain research at the Bill Nelems Pain and Research Centre in Kelowna.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- Kimberley's research on "Racial differences in pain treatment and empathy in a Canadian sample": https://downloads.hindawi.com/journals/prm/2012/803474.pdf
- Desmond's website on accessing Tension & Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE®): https://www.vibestre.ca/
- A sample of Desmond's comedy: https://youtu.be/qY1nKlvue6E