Joseph Ravenell on Access to Screening Among Black Men

Joseph Ravenell, MD, MS, assistant professor of Population Health and Medicine, Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone Medical Center, discusses access to screening among black men.

One factor that leads to health disparities is access to healthcare, and more specifically, access to primary care. If a person does not have a primary care physician, Ravenell says, it’s difficult to direct him/her to a place to be screened for cancer.

Black men are less likely to have primary care physicians than other groups, mainly due to lack of insurance coverage and medical mistrust. Ravenell says it may be beneficial to contact black men at barber shops and churches—two historically important institutions in their community.