2.3: Implicit Bias
- Page ID
- 89989
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Implicit bias is attitudes, stereotypes, or opinions that we possess and unconsciously affect our understanding, actions, and decisions. Implicit bias contributes to health disparities through its effect on communication patterns and clinical decision-making. Implicit biases are mental associations individuals make about various social groups that can impact understanding and actions. They differ from explicit biases, which are opinions about various social groups that are conscious and purposeful (Rodriquez, 2021).
Implicit bias contributes to health disparities through its effect on communication and clinical decision-making (Rodriquez, 2021) and deteriorates client-provider trust and the client’s adherence to the plan of care. Implicit bias refers to the unconscious, unintentional assumptions one has about others. Whereas explicit bias is the conscious, intentional opinions one forms about others. Often, implicit and explicit biases are based on factors associated with SDOH, such as socioeconomic level, societal positioning, education, occupation, geographic residence, weight, gender, race, ability, clothing, and other assumptions. Cultural aptitude requires health providers to evaluate their own biases, attitudes, assumptions, stereotypes, and prejudices that may be contributing to a lower quality of healthcare.
Changing the Paradigm
Employing effective community actions (upstream factors) requires cultural aptitude of the individual and community. Cultural aptitude, consideration of deep culture, and engaging community members in decision-making processes will positively influence individual actions (midstream factors) and decrease the number of individuals requiring service actions and tertiary care (downstream factors). With awareness of culture, intervention strategies, and their relationship to SDOH, nurses can decrease health inequities. Employing the concepts of cultural aptitude and being conscious of implicit bias will help to decrease the marginalization, prejudice, and discrimination that still exist with individual aggregates related to race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, socioeconomic status, and geographic location, poverty status, and employment. Changing the paradigm of how we approach health care and employing cultural aptitude can help reduce the health disparities associated with SDOH.