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conferenceseries
.com
Volume 9
Journal of Community Medicine & Health Education
Public Health Congress 2019
May 15-16, 2019
May 15-16, 2019 Singapore
7
th
World Congress on
Public Health, Nutrition & Epidemiology
J Community Med Health Educ 2019, Volume 9
DOI: 10.4172/2161-0711-C3-060
Perpetuating health disparities: The effects of provider implicit bias on patient health outcomes
Bhavna Guduguntla
Wayne State University, USA
I
mplicit bias acts on an unconscious level, meaning an individual is usually unaware that it exists. It can be activated quickly
and unknowingly by situational cues and can silently influence verbal and non-verbal behavior, perception and memory.
The negative consequences of implicit bias disproportionately affect individuals in marginalized and minority groups, who
are already proven to have a higher prevalence of health inequities. Provider implicit bias manifests as non-timely diagnosis,
disparate treatment recommendations, fewer questions asked of the patient and fewer tests performed and behavioral change.
These changes affect patient health by increasing patient stress, harming patient-provider interactions and trust and worsening
patient adherence and compliance due to reduced provider trust. General trends show that implicit bias affects health outcomes
of adults through higher incidence, mortality and advanced staging at diagnosis for various cancers. Implicit bias affects health
outcomes of children through disparities in infant mortality rates, chronic disease, organ transplantation, and leukemia-related
deaths. These patterns are not just present in the United States, but are also persistent in the United Kingdom, New Zealand,
Australia, Canada, South Africa and Brazil. By incorporating a comprehensive training curriculum, health systems may correct
for the negative effects of provider implicit bias by teaching employees how to recognize, mitigate and ultimately overcome
their implicit biases. Studies have shown that specialized in-classroom training results in employee implicit bias. With that
said, more research must be dedicated to novel intervention designs to mitigate the effects of provider implicit bias on patient
health inequities.
bhavnaguduguntla@gmail.com