Category Archives: Diversity

Caring for patients from different backgrounds, includes cultural awareness, responsiveness and engagement with communities; diversity within the healthcare workforce.

Social Determinants of Health in US Populations

Required:

  • Link and Phelan. 1995. “Social Conditions as Fundamental Causes of Disease” Journal of Health and Social Behavior pp.80-94
    • In this foundational article, social epidemiologists Bruce Link and Jo Phelan argue three main points:
      1.  social conditions (e.g., SES, inequality, racism, segregation) have a causal effect on health and well-being,
      2. to understand patterns of disease prevalence and incidence, we need to contextualize risk factors and understand what conditions put people “at risks of risks” (i.e., people in poor neighborhoods have an elevated risk of exposure to crime which increases the risk of stress accumulation), and
      3. researchers need to acknowledge that social conditions are not just distal causes of disease, they are FUNDAMENTAL causes, meaning that the relationship between the social conditions (e.g., SES) and health is robust and will remain present even as the risk factors for disease and the leading causes of disease/death change.
    • This is because high SES individuals are afforded flexible resources that they can use to avoid risks and minimize the consequences of disease.
  • Frieda, Misha. 2016. “For Native Americans, Health Care Is a Long, Hard Road Away”.
    • NPR : https://www.npr.org/2016/04/13/473264076/for-native-americans-health-care-is-a-long-hard-road-away
  • Social Determinants of Health PPT

Barriers to Confronting Bias: Fragility

Required:

Optional Readings:

Race and Racism in Medicine

Required:

Optional:

 

Interrupting Bias

Required:

Responding to Bias: Strategies and Skills

Start by reading this JAMA Piece of My Mind “Speak Up” which describes one physician’s experience with speaking up when witnessing micro-aggressions or biased comments or behavior in the clinical workplace.

Then read this post from STAT News that describes a medical student’s experience with racist comments during her clinical training and how it felt when no one spoke out against it.

Tools for Responding to Bias

Goal: Communicate a message of disapproval without damaging interpersonal relations

Be ready 

  • Rehearse what you would do or say in situations before they occur
  • You know what feels most natural for you
  • Remember the Bystander effect
  • No one else will probably say anything
  • Consider saying something, even if it is a small effort

Decide whether to say anything 

  • Silence is often interpreted as passive complicity
  • Consider saying something simple like “that’s not cool” or “I don’t appreciate that”
  • You don’t have to take a dramatic stand if you’re not comfortable or not able

Consider taking more time if:

  • You know you respond badly in the heat of the moment
  • You fear retaliation or mistreatment and need more support
  • The situation is not appropriate (ie during a patient care emergency)

Stay calm 

  • Try to speak calmly, or consider waiting until another time
  • Try to avoid inducing defensiveness

Clarify or Restate what was said  

  • Make sure you are understanding what was said
  • Make the speaker think about what they said
  • “So I am hearing you say….” Or even “excuse me, what was that you just said?”
  • If a joke was made, ask the speaker to explain it to you
  • When identifying the behavior, avoid labeling, name-calling or the use of loaded terms.
  • Describe the behavior; don’t label the person.

Appeal to principles 

  • “I’m surprised to hear you say that.  I think of you as more… (egalitarian, open-minded, etc).”

Change the subject (more effective than it sounds) 

  • You may not change beliefs but you may change behavior

Reflect on what happened 

  • Journaling or meditation
  • Debriefing with a peer or college mentor

It’s never too late to bring it up 

  • Defer until later: “let’s talk about this when we have more time”
  • Bring it up later: “I’ve been thinking about what you said last week…”

Don’t get discouraged 

  • You won’t know the lasting impact you’ll have later on, both for the speaker and those who were present

Know your resources 

  • College mentors and college heads
  • Other trusted faculty
  • Student Affairs office

Traps to Avoid

Avoid making light of any comments, making jokes (which often backfire!), or getting defensive

Socialization of the Individual

Review the lexicon (covers important terms and definitions),explore socialization, watch a TED Talk on bias, and complete readings on narrative humility and reflection in medical education. 

Learn about socialization.  Ready all the sections in 3.2 Understanding the Meaning of Socialization and 3.6 Social Interactions in Daily Life.

This TED Talk reviews one woman’s experience with bias and an approach to address it.

This article discusses the concept of narrative humility in patient interactions.

Consider how reflection in medical education helps us learn.

Supplemental readings:

Honoring the Individual: Narrative and Cultural Humility

This New York Times article, written by Harvard Professor of Economics Sendhil Mullainathan discusses how our identity shapes how we think about inequality and our advantages and disadvantages.

To Help Tackle Inequality, Remember the Advantages You’ve Had, by Sendhil Mullainathan

This PBS Newshour video and brief accompanying article by Kamaraia Roberts about young Black Republicans suggests that individual identities can be challenged by society and peers.

The stigma of being young, black and Republican, by Kamaria Roberts

Watch this compelling YouTube video by Director Vivian Chavez.  Melanie Tervalon, a physician and consultant, and Jann Murray-Garcia, a nursing professor at UC Davis, thoughtfully discuss the philosophy and function of cultural humility and the need for cultural humility to improve provider to patient interaction and care.

Cultural Humility, by Vivian Chavez