Presenters
- Eboni Winford, PhD, MPH, Director of Research and Health Equity, Cherokee Health Systems, Knoxville, TN
- Gretchen Buchanan, MA, LMFT, LDAC, CTSI Translational Research & Career Training (TRACT TL1) Scholar Doctoral Candidate
- Family Social Science, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
- Florencia Lebensohn-Chialvo, PhD, Assistant Professor Marital and Family Therapy Program Department of Counseling & Marital and Family Therapy, University of San Diego, San Diego, CA
- Yaira Oquendo Figueroa, PhD, Director of Training for Behavioral Health Licensed Clinical Psychologist Tobacco Treatment Specialist, Salud Family Health Centers, Fort Lupton, CO
Summary
From the death of Dr. Susan Moore to the firing of Drs. Aysha Khoury and Princess Dennar to the departure of Drs. Uchi Blackstock and Ben Danelson from medicine, evidence abounds that healthcare institutions, both as part of the larger racist culture and with features unique to healthcare, can create toxic and inhospitable cultures for Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and other providers of color. Whether it be facing daily microaggressions from patients and staff alike being tokenized through service as the racial/ethnic ambassador, or the never ending attempts at finding balance between professionalism and “othering,” these experiences inevitably place additional burdens on BIPOC providers (Osseo-Asare et al., 2018). Further, BIPOC healthcare providers have been historically underrepresented in healthcare and, thus, they face an undue burden. Additional research suggests that nearly half of healthcare organizations’ staff and clinicians are impacted by interpersonal racism, and even though healthcare organizations invest in training to address racism and equity, they are deemed “moderately effective” at best (Cooper, 2021). The irony in these reflections is that racism has been declared a public health emergency by many healthcare organizations, states, and municipalities alike. Yet healthcare workers of color, who are charged not only with rendering ethical and effective care but also with doing so while experiencing multi-layered, multidirectional, and multisystemic racism themselves. This presentation will address the myriad contexts in which racism shows up in healthcare organizations while firmly asserting that racism does indeed show up in healthcare settings. the negative impact of racism on BIPOC healthcare workers and, critically, will conclude with recommendations for strategies to move healthcare organizations from anti-racist in word to anti-racist in action and policy.
Objectives
- Describe three (3) specific ways in which racism shows up in healthcare organizations;
- Identify three (3) negative effects of racism on BIPOC healthcare providers;
- List three (3) concrete strategies healthcare organizations can use in transforming into an anti-racist organization.