Nurses, social workers say implicit bias training can help combat health disparities
KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Implicit bias training can save lives, frontline health care workers say.
By educating workers about prejudices they might not be aware of, the training can help reduce disparities in health care and ensure access to those who need assistance.
"We make a lot of assumptions based on what someone looks like, just right off — in those first few minutes. It's important, especially as health care providers, that we can move past that and really get to what that person needs," Lisa Singleterry, a registered nurse and interim director for the Bronson School of Nursing at Western Michigan University, said.
In June, Michigan's Bureau of Professional Licensing announced a new implicit bias training requirement for a long-list of licensed healthcare workers.
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The rule defines implicit bias as "an attitude or internalized stereotype that affects an individual's perception, action, or decision making in an unconscious manner and often contributes to unequal treatment of people based on race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, socioeconomic status, age, disability, or other characteristic."
"I may not know that I have ... biases, and by going to these kinds of trainings I can start recognizing some of the biases I might have, start thinking how I might stop having those biases, and recognize how it might be influencing the way that I care for people," Singleterry said.
It's uncomfortable to admit that you have biases and it really is important in healthcare that we do take that seriously. As nurses, we are dedicated in our code of ethics to make sure we are doing the most that we can do." — Lisa Singleterry, interim director, Bronson School of Nursing at Western Michigan University
According to the National League for Nursing, such trainings would "enable nurse educators to become better informed about the impact of structural racism, diversity and inclusion, and equity on nursing education."
Health equity is the principle underlying a commitment to reduce and ultimately eliminate disparities in health and what was causes, according to a report by Paula Braveman, MD, MPH in "Public Health Reports" 2014 supplement 2, volume 129.
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Health disparities as a term was coined in the U.S. around the 1990s, according to Braveman's report.
"At Western Michigan University, in our College of Health and Human Services and the nursing program, we talk about implicit bias in most of our classes and because we think it's important to practice the skill continuously — you have to practice it," Singleterry said.
Trainers who educate health care workers and students on implicit bias said there are opportunities for trainers to find personal enrichment too.
"Every single time I deliver this training I learn something new. There have been moments where I have been corrected and I learn and I think 'how amazing," said Katie Saputo Reece, a social worker and HRD Leadership Development Trainer for the Office of Racial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
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