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Showing results for tags 'Unconscious bias'.
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Content ArticleThis article by the Betsy Lehman Center in Massachusetts draws attention to research by ECRI, a US non-profit research and risk management firm, which shows that efforts to address racial inequalities in medical care need to include an examination of the way in which patient safety events are reported. Research by ECRI shows that existing patient safety reporting systems may be undercounting events experienced by patients who are Black , Latino or from other ethnic groups. It also highlights that racial, ethnic and other demographic data about patients is missing in adverse event reports from most US healthcare organisations.
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Content ArticleIn this blog, Gurpreet Kaur, who had to use a wheelchair for five years due to the severity of her endometriosis, talks about her firsthand experience of gender bias in pain management. She recalls sexist and inappropriate comments made to her by male healthcare professionals, describing how they belittled her pain and treated her as a 'hysterical woman'. She also highlights that research clearly demonstrates that women of color are more disproportionately affected by dismissals of their pain.
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Content ArticleThis is the transcript of a Westminster Hall debate in the House of Commons on Black Maternal Health Awareness Week 2022, dedicated to raising awareness about disparities in maternal outcomes.
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Content ArticleWomen are 50% more likely to receive a wrong initial diagnosis; when they are having a heart attack, such mistakes can be fatal. People who are initially misdiagnosed have a 70% higher risk of dying. The latest studies have similarly shown that women have worse outcomes for heart operations such as valve replacements and peripheral revascularisation. As well as being misdiagnosed, women are less likely to be treated quickly, less likely to get the best surgical treatment and less likely to be discharged with the optimum set of drugs. None of this is excusable, but is it understandable? What is behind this bias and how can how it be fixed? Sian Harding, emeritus professor of cardiac pharmacology at Imperial College London, looks at the evidence in this Guardian article. Related reading Dangerous exclusions: The risk to patient safety of sex and gender bias Gender bias: A threat to women’s health Medicines, research and female hormones: a dangerous knowledge gap
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Content ArticleThis article by The Decision Lab explains the Dunning-Kruger Effect, which occurs when a person’s lack of knowledge and skills in a certain area causes them to overestimate their own competence. By contrast, this effect also causes those who excel in a given area to think the task is simple for everyone, and underestimate their relative abilities as well. The article covers the following topics: Where this bias occurs Individual effects Systemic effects Why it happens Why it is important How to avoid it How it all started It also includes two real-world examples of the Dunning-Kruger Effect.
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Content ArticleRAND Corporation and MedStar researchers examined the intersection of patient safety and racism, focusing on patient safety and health equity from clinician leaders' perspectives. An overarching emphasis of the work concerned the impact of racism and other related factors (i.e., bias) on patient safety events and potential interventions or changes (such as creating a culture of speaking up about racism in care) that can help prevent such events.
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News Article
Obese patients ‘being weight-shamed by doctors and nurses’
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Doctors and nurses often “weight-shame” people who are overweight or obese, leaving them feeling anxious, depressed and wrongly blaming themselves for their condition, research has found. Such behaviour, although usually the result of “unconscious weight bias”, leads to people not attending medical appointments, feeling humiliated and being more likely to put on weight. Dr Anastasia Kalea and colleagues at University College London analysed 25 previous studies about “weight stigma”, undertaken in different countries, involving 3,554 health professionals. They found “extensive evidence [of] strong weight bias” among a wide range of health staff, including doctors, nurses, dieticians, psychologists and even obesity specialists. Their analysis found that a number of health professionals “believe their patients are lazy, lack self-control, overindulge, are hostile, dishonest, have poor hygiene and do not follow guidance”, said Kalea, an associate professor in UCL’s division of medicine. She added: “Sadly, healthcare, including general practice, is one of the most common settings for weight stigmatisation and we know this acts as a barrier to the services and treatments that can help people manage weight. “An example is a GP that will unconsciously show that they do not believe that the patient complies with their eat less/exercise more regime they were asked to follow as they are not losing weight." “The result is that patients are not coming back or they delay their follow-up appointments, they avoid healthcare prevention services or cancel appointments due to concerns of being stigmatised due to their weight.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 10 August 2022 -
Content ArticleThis practical guide was commissioned by The Health Foundation and NHS England to support NHS systems to tackle health inequalities. Co-written by the Yorkshire and Humber Academic Health Science Network and a reference group of national experts, stakeholders, service providers and people with lived experience of inequalities, the guide suggests practical action that systems can take to ensure equitable access, excellent experience and optimal outcomes for all. The guide covers four key areas for action and features good practice examples which systems and providers can adapt and apply to their local context. There are also checklists to assist system leaders, managers, clinicians, and operational staff, to design new models of care and embed sustainable action to drive down healthcare inequalities. The guide supports the national Core20plus5 approach to reduce healthcare inequalities which focuses on a population group of the core 20% most deprived nationally and those from inclusion health groups; outlining five clinical areas of focus.
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Content ArticleThis report by the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Muslim Women and the Muslim Women's Network UK aimed to investigate the maternity experiences of Muslim women in the UK, particularly from Black, Asian and other minority ethnic backgrounds. It aimed to better understand the factors that influence the standard of maternity care Muslim women receive, and to determine whether this may be contributing to poorer outcomes for them and their babies. 1,022 women completed surveys and 37 women were interviewed for the research. The study focused on the care given throughout pregnancy in the antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal periods. Experiences of sub-standard care were analysed to find out: whether they were associated with the women’s intersecting identities such as ethnicity, religion and class. whether attitudes were due to unconscious bias (for example, negative stereotypes or assumptions) or conscious action (for example, microaggressions). what role (if any) organisational policies and practices played. Particular attention was paid to how near misses occurred as this information could help to save lives of mothers and babies. To show what good practice looks like, positive experiences were also highlighted.
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Content ArticleThis practice pointer in The BMJ explains why diagnostic errors occur and provides five strategies that healthcare workers can use to achieve diagnostic excellence. Each of these strategies is explored in detail: Seek diagnostic feedback, which includes tracking patient outcomes and seeking feedback from patients, families and other healthcare workers. "Byte sized" learning, which involves digital learning activities. Consider bias by getting to know patients and treating them as individuals, and through taking a 'diagnostic pause' to consider whether bias is playing into decisions. Make diagnosis a team sport through multidisciplinary huddles that include healthcare workers from different professions. Foster critical thinking by using intentional strategies to foster reflective scepticism and regular review.
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Content Article
Survey - Asthma is worse for women (27 April 2022)
Patient-Safety-Learning posted an article in Women's health
Women often have worse asthma than men, and female sex hormones can affect the condition. Asthma and Lung UK are conducting a survey to find out more about women's experience of asthma - women with asthma and those that care for them are invited to take the survey, which takes about five minutes to complete and is completely anonymous. Asthma and Lung UK have also published a report, Asthma is Worse for Women, outlining the need for more research into asthma and female sex hormones. -
Content ArticleIn this blog for Refinery 29, journalist L'Oréal Blackett discusses the additional risk and associated worries faced by black pregnant women in the UK. With black women four times more likely to die in childbirth than white women, and 40% more likely to suffer a miscarriage, she examines what action the government is taking to improve outcomes for black women and their babies. She speaks to a number of campaigners who highlight the importance of including black women at every stage of research and policy to tackle race-based health inequalities, and who question whether this is being done by the UK government's new Maternity Disparities Taskforce. She also argues that empowering women to make informed, evidence-based decisions is the most effective way to improve maternal safety for black women.
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Content Article
ECRI: Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns 2022
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in International patient safety
ECRI's annual Top 10 list helps organisations identify imminent patient safety challenges. The 2022 edition features many first-time topics, and emphasis is on potential risks that could have the biggest impact on patient health across all care settings. The number one topic on this year’s list has been steadily growing throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and impacts patients and staff on all levels: staffing shortages. Prior to 2021, there was a growing shortage of both clinical and non-clinical staff, but the problem has grown exponentially. In early January 2022, it was estimated that 24% of US hospitals were critically understaffed, while 100 more facilitates anticipated facing critical staff shortages within the following week. The list includes diagnostic and vaccine-related errors that can impact patient outcomes. In addition, several topics on this year's list reflect challenges that have arisen as a result of the stresses associated with delivering care during a global pandemic. -
News Article
Miscarriage: 'I was in pain and they did not listen'
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Research shows black women are at a 40% higher risk of pregnancy loss than white women. It is an urgent problem, which the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists says needs greater attention, with many complex reasons driving this higher risk. These include a lack of quality research involving all ethnicities - but RCOG head Dr Edward Morris says implicit racial bias is also affecting some women's experience of care. Isabel Gomes Obasi and her husband, Paulson, from Coventry, are expecting a baby boy in March. They are extremely anxious as almost a year ago their baby boy Andre died four months into Isabel's pregnancy. Giving birth to Andre was extremely traumatic, Isabel says, but how she was treated when in severe pain and bleeding, in the days before her loss, made the experience worse. "We knew something was wrong, so we went into hospital and waited five hours to be seen by a doctor," she says. "I remember being laughed at by one of the nurses, who said, 'Just go home. Why do you keep coming in?'" Isabel was checked over and told the baby was fine but says her intuition and pain were belittled and ignored. Within 48 hours of going home, Isabel began bleeding heavily. There is little doctors can do at this relatively early stage of pregnancy to save a baby's life. But the feeling of not being listened to has stayed with Isabel ever since. "I just shut down," she says. "The experience made me anxious and depressive, if not suicidal." Asked why she was not listened to, she said: "The colour of my skin," the attitude of some staff was: "'You have black skin - you are not from here - you can wait.'" Dr Morris says it is "unacceptable" women belonging to ethnic minorities face worse outcomes than white women - especially in maternity care. "Implicit racial bias from medical staff can hinder consultations and negatively influence treatment options," he says. This can stop some women engaging with healthcare. Read full story Source: BBC News, 8 February 2022 -
News Article
Women report waiting longer for operations and appointments in pandemic
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Women are being forced to wait longer for operations and healthcare appointments in the wake of the pandemic, according to a new report. Research carried out by the Care Quality Commission, England’s regulator of health and social care, found 53% of women experienced longer waiting times for appointments or healthcare procedures during the Covid crisis. The report also found 3 in 10 women experienced appointment cancellations. More women report grappling with these issues than men – with some 44% of men saying they have experienced longer waiting times for appointments or procedures. Helena Mckeown, a GP who previously specialised in women’s health at the British Medical Association (BMA), told The Independent she is not surprised by the findings. "Our world is full of sexism and we know of other examples of sexism and biases in healthcare. Some of them are racial biases. To stop unconscious biases, they need to be recognised and addressed. Ms Mckeown, one of the directors of the Menopause Expert Group, a non-profit which provides education about menopause, said female patients are treated differently to men. She added: “We need to make sure we are not taking women saying they are in pain differently to men saying they are in pain. It is really important that we address this problem of women waiting longer for operations and appointments.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 22 January 2022 -
Content ArticleThis study in the British Journal of General Practice aimed to examine the relationship between empathy and patient-reported satisfaction, consultation quality, and patients’ trust in their physicians. It also sought to determine whether this relationship is moderated by a physician’s gender. The authors found that doctors self-reported more gender differences in measures of empathy than were observed in external measures, which included a facial recognition test, observations and a Synchrony of Vocal Mean Fundamental Frequencies (SVMFF), which measures vocally coded emotional arousal. SVMFF significantly predicted all patient outcomes, and could be used as a cost-effective proxy for relational quality.
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Content ArticleIn the 1983 film Yentl, Barbra Streisand plays a young Jewish woman in Poland who pretends to be a man in order to receive an education. The film’s premise has made its way into medical lore as “Yentl syndrome,” which describes the phenomenon whereby women are misdiagnosed and poorly treated unless their symptoms or diseases conform to that of men. Sometimes, Yentl syndrome can prove fatal. The science of medicine is based on male bodies, but researchers are beginning to realise how vastly the symptoms of disease differ between the sexes. Caroline Criado Perez explores why women are continually being let down by the medical establishment.
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EventuntilJoin us for a series of free online webinars brought to you by Bolt Burdon Kemp’s specialist Women’s Health Team to help raise awareness of racial inequality in maternal healthcare. Hear from leaders and influencers in maternal healthcare, focusing on changes required across the profession to improve the level of care provided to those who identify as ethnic minority mothers and birthing people. We have a fabulous line up of expert speakers and each webinar will be followed by a Q&A session. Come and join us for a chance to contribute to the discussion and share experiences. This webinar will be led by Natasha Smith, Founder of Eden’s Script and Benash Nazmeen, Practising Midwife. To register, please email webinars@boltburdonkemp.co.uk - you will be sent a Zoom invite with joining details nearer the time.
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EventuntilJoin us for a series of free online webinars brought to you by Bolt Burdon Kemp’s specialist Women’s Health Team to help raise awareness of racial inequality in maternal healthcare. Hear from leaders and influencers in maternal healthcare, focusing on changes required across the profession to improve the level of care provided to those who identify as ethnic minority mothers and birthing people. We have a fabulous line up of expert speakers and each webinar will be followed by a Q&A session. Come and join us for a chance to contribute to the discussion and share experiences. This webinar will be led by Mars Lord, Doula Educator and Birth Activist. To register, please email webinars@boltburdonkemp.co.uk - you will be sent a Zoom invite with joining details nearer the time.
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Event
Racial Bias in Women’s Health
Patient-Safety-Learning posted an event in Community Calendar
untilJoin us for a series of free online webinars brought to you by Bolt Burdon Kemp’s specialist Women’s Health Team to help raise awareness of racial inequality in maternal healthcare. Hear from leaders and influencers in maternal healthcare, focusing on changes required across the profession to improve the level of care provided to those who identify as ethnic minority mothers and birthing people. We have a fabulous line up of expert speakers and each webinar will be followed by a Q&A session. Come and join us for a chance to contribute to the discussion and share experiences. This webinar will be led by Dr Christine Ekechi, Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist and Co-chair of the Race Equality Taskforce at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and spokesperson for racial equality. To register, please email webinars@boltburdonkemp.co.uk - you will be sent a Zoom invite with joining details nearer the time. -
News Article
Women 32% more likely to die after operation by male surgeon, study reveals
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Women who are operated on by a male surgeon are much more likely to die, experience complications and be readmitted to hospital than when a woman performs the procedure, research reveals. Women are 15% more liable to suffer a bad outcome, and 32% more likely to die, when a man rather than a woman carries out the surgery, according to a study of 1.3 million patients. The findings have sparked a debate about the fact that surgery in the UK remains a hugely male-dominated area of medicine and claims that “implicit sex biases” among male surgeons may help explain why women are at such greater risk when they have an operation. “In our 1.3 million patient sample involving nearly 3,000 surgeons we found that female patients treated by male surgeons had 15% greater odds of worse outcomes than female patients treated by female surgeons,” said Dr Angela Jerath, an associate professor and clinical epidemiologist at the University of Toronto in Canada and a co-author of the findings. “This result has real-world medical consequences for female patients and manifests itself in more complications, readmissions to hospital and death for females compared with males. “We have demonstrated in our paper that we are failing some female patients and that some are unnecessarily falling through the cracks with adverse, and sometimes fatal, consequences.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 4 January 2022 -
Content ArticleThis population-based cohort study in JAMA Surgery aims to determine the association of surgeon and patient sex concordance with postoperative outcomes. The authors found that worse outcomes, including death and complications, were more likely among female patients treated by male surgeons. The authors highlight the need for further research to understand the underlying mechanisms causing this trend.
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Content ArticleThis study in Pain Research and Management reviewed available literature about gender bias in the treatment of pain and gendered norms towards patients with chronic pain. The authors found that gendered norms about men and women with pain are present in research from different scientific fields. They highlight that awareness of the issue can help counteract gender bias in healthcare and support healthcare professionals to provide more equitable care.
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Content ArticleThis training documentary by the South East Perinatal Mental Health team explores race inequalities within the NHS maternity system. It uncovers the stories behind the MBRRACE report figures and looks for answers from leading race and diversity health professionals and campaigners. In the film, midwives and mothers talk frankly about the issues and how individuals can make a difference to create a positive impact on race inequality outcomes for mothers and within maternity teams.
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News Article
Black women four times more likely to die in childbirth
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Black women are more than four times more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth than white women in the UK, a review of 2017-2019 deaths shows. The MBRRACE-UK report found women from Asian backgrounds are almost twice as likely to die as white women. Some 495 individuals died during pregnancy or up to a year after birth, out of 2,173,810 having a child. The charity Birthrights is concerned that overall "this bleak picture has not changed in over a decade". University of Oxford researchers say for the vast majority of people, pregnancy remains very safe in the UK. But despite slight decreases in the maternal death rate in recent years, there have been no significant improvements to these rates since the 2010 to 2012 period. Their current report shows heart disease, epilepsy and stroke continue to be the most common causes of death. And they say in some 37% of cases, improvements in care may have made a difference to the outcome. Lead researcher, Prof Marian Knight, said: "Pregnant women get inequitable care for several reasons. "Healthcare professionals often attribute their symptoms to pregnancy alone and they do not always end up getting the treatment they need because people can be incorrectly concerned about giving them medication. "On top of that is the unconscious bias that black and Asian women can experience. It all adds up. "We know from other studies that the disparity in death rates cannot be fully explained by socio-economic factors and other medical conditions for example. We need to look for other reasons." Read full story Source: BBC News, 11 November 2021
