EP172: Bias & Inclusion In Healthcare

Jul 13, 2020

This is a conversation I should have started years ago - bias in healthcare, equity in alternative health care, and inclusion across the board.

In this week’s episode of The Business of Becoming, I am joined by one of my own Facebook community members, Sheela Ivlev, who posted an article that got my attention. I reached out to her for this conversation and I am honoured she said yes.

Sheela is an Occupational Therapist, specializing in wellness and mental health and is committed to removing barriers to care that keep people from accessing services for health and wellness.

We talk about conscious and unconscious bias in healthcare, what it is, and the influences it has on how we think and act. Sheela shares her advice on how to recognize signs of bias within ourselves and the steps we can take to start to unravel some of the answers around why we are biased.

Get ready to take notes - this episode is critical listening in my opinion.

More About Sheela:

Sheela has worked for top San Francisco Bay Area hospitals, was an educator for a graduate occupational therapy program, and is currently running a wellness-based virtual practice.

Sheela’s website: https://otbayarea.com

Sheela offers a free wellness check-in for anyone looking to improve their self-care, this free session can be scheduled here: https://otbayarea.com/individual-wellness

Find Sheela on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/otbayareasf/

Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/otbayarea/

What We Talk About In This Episode:

• The difference between conscious and unconscious (implicit) bias   
• Recognizing that we all have unconscious biases
• How implicit bias influences our actions
• Examples of how our biases play out in health and wellness 
• How unintentional biases can lead to misdiagnosis
• How bias can affect trust 
• Steps you can take to recognize and acknowledge your own bias 
• The importance of cultural humility
• The impacts of having a niche audience and how you can be more inclusive
• Pricing your program/service and ways to give as you grow
• How to reach out into the world right now and give to your communities

 

Things We Mention In This Episode:

• Take Harvard's Implicit Association Test here: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html 
• Learn more about implicit bias here: https://equity.ucla.edu/know/implicit-bias/

 

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Let’s Keep The Conversation Going…

What has your experience been with both conscious and unconscious bias? I would love to hear all about it and I’m sure others would too. Comment below and share your story or visit me on Instagram which is currently my favourite way to connect. 

You can also join my free online community to connect with more than 24,000 other health practitioners just like you to ask questions, share wins and struggles, and get lots of support from me and my team! I hope to see you there.