Evidence Based Implicit Bias Implications for Physicians and Healthcare Professionals
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COURSE OVERVIEW The purpose of this course is to provide a historical context of race and racism and its relationship to the development of racial implicit bias. The development of implicit bias will be discussed along with research demonstrating the impact of implicit bias on the clinical encounter. Recommendations for mitigating implicit bias are offered.
LEARNING OUTCOMES ● Know how the history of race in America informs the development of racial implicit bias. ● Explain the definition of implicit bias and how it differs from explicit bias. ● Describe factors that contribute to the development of implicit bias. Introduction Although implicit or unconscious bias and its impact on healthcare can be un- derstood in relationship to a range of identity characteristics (age, gender, sex- ual orientation, etc.), implicit bias related to race is particularly salient in the United States. This focus on racial implicit bias can be understood in the context of the history of race and racism in America. The enslavement of Africans The first Africans were brought to this country forcibly on ships, arriving on the Southern shores of our nation. Packed body-next-to-bodzy in the hull of ships, those that survived disease, malnutrition, and abuse entered this country as cargo… property. White farmers and various busi- nessmen purchased Africans to plant and harvest crops and to cook, clean homes, and care for their children. They were the property of the individuals and families that purchased them. This forced enslave- ment of Africans was maintained by a sys- tem of inhumane physical and psycho- logical abuse, norms, accepted practices,
● Describe research related to the impact of implicit bias on the clinical encounter and patient referrals. ● Describe the relationship between racial implicit bias and healthcare disparities. ● Describe strategies to mitigate the impact of implicit bias in decision making. and laws. As property , Africans weren’t considered human. They were property to be purchased, sold, and even named in the will of individuals before they died, like one might leave a house or wagon to a spouse or children. Like the evaluation or assessment of a used car or house, en- slaved Africans were evaluated and rated according to their fitness and/or physical defects. They were not viewed as human beings on par with Whites (Franklin & Higginbotham, 2011). The ingrained nature of this racist sys- tem afforded any White person the right to stop any African American individual, question them, search them, and even physically abuse them. These actions were accepted practice and, in many cases, were part of legal codes and regulations. Thus, the systemic and structural nature of racism in this country was not only built on the economic practice of enslaving Af- rican Americans for individual and family profit, but was built on the practices, be - liefs, and laws that created and support-
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