Survey on Racism, Discrimination and Well being

KFF’s 2023 Survey on Racism, Discrimination, and Health

KFF’s 2023 Survey on Racism, Discrimination, and Health is a major effort to document the extent and implications of racism and discrimination, particularly with respect to people’s interactions with the health care system. This large, nationally representative survey based on responses from over 6,000 adults provides new data on individuals’ experiences with racism and discrimination and the impacts of these experiences, both broadly and within racial and ethnic groups.

It documents racial and ethnic differences in social and economic circumstances, interactions with the police, experiences with unfair treatment in daily life and while seeking health care, and the impacts of such experiences on health and well-being. Moreover, it examines how these inequities and experiences vary within racial and ethnic groups by factors such as income, gender, skin tone, age and LGBT identity where data allow.

Future publications will delve deeper into results for specific populations and additional topics. This survey is part of a broader body of work that builds on KFF’s commitment to amplifying the voices of marginalized populations, including the recently released 2023 KFF/LA Times Survey of Immigrants, which provides insight into experiences of immigrants by different factors including immigration status. Having comprehensive and nuanced data to understand individuals’ experiences may inform and direct efforts to address disparities and advance equity.

This report is broadly divided into three sections. The first examines how social and economic circumstances and feelings of safety for Hispanic, Black, Asian, and American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) people in the U.S. differ from White individuals in ways that reflect underlying structural inequities. The second section examines experiences with interpersonal racism and discrimination in daily activities and impacts of these experiences on well-being and stress. The third section delves deeper into experiences with racism and discrimination in health care settings.

Acknowledgements:

KFF would like to thank the following individuals and organizations for their invaluable inputs, insights, and suggestions throughout the planning and dissemination of this survey project:

Mayra Alvarez, MHA, The Children’s Partnership
Uché Blackstock, MD, Advancing Health Equity
Kimberly Chang, MD, MPH, Asian Health Services
Juliet Choi, JD and Mary Smith, JD, Asian and Pacific Islander Health Forum
Gail Christopher, DN, National Collaborative for Health Equity
Carmen Green, MPH, Reproductive Health Impact
Daniel Dawes, JD, Institute of Global Health Equity, Meharry Medical College
Adolph P. Falcón, MPP, National Alliance for Hispanic Health
Sharlene Kemler, The Loveland Foundation
Pedro Martinez, MPH, UnidosUS
Aletha Maybank, MD, MPH, and Fernando De Maio, PhD, American Medical Association
Meredith Raimondi, National Council of Urban Indian Health
A.C. Locklear, JD, National Indian Health Board