When Patients are Biased The apparent conflict between patient rights and non-discriminatory policies is complex. However, organizations create an ethical and practical slippery slope when they meet patient demands for providers with specific (clinically irrelevant) characteristics. If a request for a provider with a specific skin tone is honored, must patient requests for a provider…
There is a great deal of overlap between appropriate training for cultural competence/flexibility and training on implicit (automatic, often unconscious) biases. A key aspect of cultural competence/flexibility is awareness of the way our cultural beliefs systems shape automatic expectations and attitudes (and biases). A major barrier to cross-cultural relationships is our automatic, conscious and unconscious reactions…
While a color-blind policy (the idea that ignoring or overlooking racial and ethnic differences promotes racial harmony) may seem positive, it is associated with negative outcomes for minority group members, increased bias for majority group members, and thus negative outcomes for the organization. Colorblind philosophies and polices translate into an organizational culture that suppresses attention to important…
