Patient activation reduces effects of implicit bias on doctor-patient interactions.

ABSTRACT: Disparities between Black and White Americans persist in medical treatment and health outcomes. One reason is that physicians sometimes hold implicit racial biases that favor White (over Black) patients. Thus, disrupting the effects of physicians' implicit bias is one route to promoting equitable health outcomes. In the present research, we tested a potential mechanism to short-circuit the effects of doctors' implicit bias: patient activation, i.e., having patients ask questions and advocate for themselves. Specifically, we trained Black and White standardized patients (SPs) to be "activated" or "typical" during appointments with unsuspecting oncologists and primary care physicians in which SPs claimed to have stage IV lung cancer. Supporting the idea that patient activation can promote eq

SUBMITTER: Gainsburg I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9371681 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature