Health Care Disparities: Mitigating Unconscious Bias in Health Care-Dr. Uche Blackstock, MD

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November 21, 2019
9:00 AM – 10:30 AM
IREB 350
This series will support a comprehensive approach to establishing the causes of disparities from a population –based perspective that includes diversity as important market of where and how inequities in health status occur and how and why they persist. The ultimate goal is to equip future providers with the ability to examine and treat not only the illness but to foster liaisons in the community to address and remove persistent causes of disparate levels of morbidity and mortality. By intentionally focusing on instilling a vision for the health and well-being of the public, the health care system will become a leader for health rather than simply an entity that along with a solid focus on treating the entire person, in collaboration with others.

Objectives – Mitigating Unconscious Bias in Healthcare
• Define and differentiate unconscious bias from conscious bias
• Explore the ways in which unconscious bias influences communication and
decision-making in the health care setting
• Identify practical strategies to utilize in order to mitigate the detrimental effects
of unconscious bias
Dr. Uché Blackstock is a Harvard-educated physician, who is passionate about equity and justice in healthcare and society. As a child, she watched her mother, Dr. Dale Blackstock, a Black woman in medicine, navigate the world with the odds squarely stacked against her. Raised by a single mother with six children, on public assistance, Dr. Blackstock’s mother was the first person in her family to attend college. She died at only 47 years old.

Over the last ten years, Dr. Blackstock has had first-hand experience with the healthcare system and the deleterious impact of health disparities on our marginalized populations and communities. Her mother’s legacy inspires Dr. Blackstock to use her voice to advance health equity and to address the detrimental effects of structural racism and other systems of oppression on the health status of our communities.

Dr. Blackstock is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Emergency at NYU School of Medicine, where she is also the Faculty Director for Recruitment, Retention and Inclusion in the Office of Diversity Affairs. She is a founding member of Times Up Healthcare, a 501(c) 3 organization whose mission is to unify national efforts to bring safety, equity, and dignity to our healthcare workplace.

Dr. Blackstock is also the founder of Advancing Health Equity which partners with healthcare organizations to address the critical factors that contribute to health inequity, through educational trainings and racial equity culture analytics.