In 2021 the CDC declared racism as a “serious public health threat”, yet in the three years since this declaration, very little has been done in the way of addressing this epidemic in clinical practice. Racism places a huge mental and physical demand on groups and individuals, creating a significant deficit in cognitive and physiological resources. Such a demand on resources can lead to overall poor physical health as well as lead to inattention, impulsivity and the overall inability to make clear and concise decisions. Such deficits in cognitive resources can contribute to significant and unique mental health challenges in health care settings where there has historically been little acknowledgement of the impact that racism has on health and well-being. The following is a proposal to present on the topic of recognizing racism as a health crisis and exploring ways to address racism in acute care settings. This presentation was developed based on an in-depth literature review and aims to highlight the ways racism can impact patient presentation and response to treatment. This presentation also aims to introduce ways that clinical staff can help mitigate negative healthcare experiences and the behaviors associated with those experiences. This presentation outlines the many ways in which racism is enabled and reinforced in healthcare settings due to its intrinsic nature and proposes an anti-racist clinical approach to care. The presented approach is based on the anti-racist clinical model presented by Legha and is intended to be utilized by direct care staff though it can be adapted to work across all clinical domains. The approach includes two action based intrapersonal interventions: 1) acknowledging all the ways in which racism exists; and 2) making a commitment to critical consciousness. As well as two explicit action-based interventions: 1) patient advocacy; and 2) anti-racist clinical practice. It is believed that such an approach will yield positive benefits for clinical staff and patients alike.
Learning Objectives:
Gain an enhanced awareness and understanding of racism as a health risk.
Be able to identify some of the ways in which experiencing racism can lead to and exacerbate challenging behaviors in the health care setting.
Identify an anti-racist approach to care aimed at mitigating the negative health impact of racism.
