In health care, trust is everything. When patients walk into a doctor’s office or surgical room, they put their life into the hands of another person. For some, trust is easy to come by and may even be ingrained in their relationship with health care.

For underserved communities, trust is often hard-won, shaped by a history of systemic inequities, cultural barriers, and personal experiences of neglect or discrimination. The impact of this trust gap in health care is profound. It adds to disparities in health outcomes, reduced access to care, and a hesitancy to seek medical care.

While there are many approaches to remedying this, health care providers are uniquely positioned to bridge this divide. However, it will take more than clinical expertise to do so. It will require a commitment to understanding, empathy, and proactive engagement with the communities they serve.

Here are actionable strategies to build stronger, more meaningful connections between health care providers and underserved populations.

How Health Care Providers Can Bridge the Trust Gap

Building trust and relationships requires time and commitment. These strategies are not one-time endeavors; rather, they demand ongoing dedication from health care providers and the institutions they represent.

Community Engagement

To build trust and meet the needs of underserved communities, start at the source with the communities themselves. Instead of making assumptions about their needs or experiences, engage with community members to improve patient/provider relationships and demonstrate a true commitment to change.

When health care providers connect with community organizations, they gather accurate and representative information about how the community views health care. To be effective, partnerships must be maintained over time to demonstrate true commitment.

With this information, providers can expand on what’s working and adjust what’s not – all while building crucial relationships along the way.

Transparent Communication

Much of the distrust that underserved communities grapple with stems from being kept in the dark or lied to about their care. This originates from a devastating history, such as with the Untreated Syphilis Study at Tuskegee, when participants (all Black men) were not offered treatment despite it being readily available.

To combat this, transparency is key. This starts with being clear and straightforward about clinical practices, making sure to take time with patients and thoroughly answer questions. Providers should also be supportive of patients taking decisions into their own hands, such as through second opinions and personal research.

Transparency extends to being open and honest about pricing and insurance policies, ensuring patients don’t feel overwhelmed or taken advantage of by an often confusing and off-putting health care system.

Diverse Representation

Racial minorities who have the same race and ethnicity as their health care provider experience stronger communication and even better health outcomes. Yet, makeup of health care providers does not accurately reflect the makeup of the US. For instance, only 5.7% of doctors in the US are Black compared to 13.7% of the US population.

Improving trust depends on recruiting and supporting health care providers from underserved communities to more accurately represent the patients they care for. In doing so, they can more easily build rapport with their patients and demonstrate the values of health care organizations.

Patient Feedback

Patient opinions and voices are a vastly underutilized resource in building trust and improving health care systems. By ensuring patients can easily and efficiently provide feedback about their care, providers can build trust and shared ownership over the care they give.

Health systems and providers should also prioritize responding to feedback, further proving a commitment to care and bridging the gap between patient and provider.

The Role of Health Care Innovation and the Path Forward

Building trust between health care providers and underserved communities is not a one-time effort but an ongoing commitment. It requires fostering genuine connections and actively addressing systemic barriers that have fueled mistrust for generations.

Technology and innovation play a key role in this transformation. Tools like telehealth and mobile health apps make health care more accessible, engaging communities that face barriers in distance and convenience. Data helps providers identify health disparities and ensure interventions meet the needs of specific communities. Digital platforms offer new ways to foster transparency and communication, whether it’s about making medical decisions or providing real-time access to health information.

Combining patient-centered care with innovative solutions will help health care providers take meaningful steps toward rebuilding trust. Through accountability and a commitment to health equity, providers have the power to reshape the health care landscape and move forward together.