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After reflecting on our assignments and on the cultural competency check in, one way I can reduce my own implicit bias is by actively practicing self-reflection and bias training. Since implicit biases often occur involuntarily, I can identify and counter them by reflecting on my assumptions and gaining knowledge from formal bias training programs. I can also make learning about various cultural ideas and communication methods a priority in order to increase my awareness of the impact of language and culture in healthcare. This would involve understanding about the ways in which how different communities see health, illness, and treatment, as well as comprehending the role that language challenges have in patient care.

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A way that I can reduce my own implicit bias is by increasing opportunities for contact with individuals from different groups, specifically with cultures, languages, gender identities, and religious backgrounds. I feel like my weakness is communicating with others and having a better understanding of people's different communication styles. Having partnerships with communities where you can discuss and build relationships with community members who have different cultures can really help expand my social skills and effectiveness when it involves public well-being. It can also help with identifying an individual's unique identity and how specific identities can affect illness and wellness. Upon reflecting on my cultural competence check-in, I noticed areas where understanding an individual's English or communication level are things that I don't often do or ask someone's pronouns and how to address them. I think this will reduce my bias when interacting with other people allowing for them to guide the conversation and focus on their experiences and cultural influences.

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As some other courses that I have taken in public health; being open minded is key to become globally aware and culturally competent. Definitely not assuming anything because even if something simple looks like a no problem and normal to us it might not be the case for everyone else. Generalizing is a mistake made quite often in the field but if we learn to listen before we take any action or say something we can avoid running into biased comments. As we know we live in a diverse society and this brings us to many different challenges. Probably language barrier might be among one of the major issues but if we train staff to speak a second language it could make a huge difference and improve the quality of care given to people. However learning a second language might be difficult and expensive but at least providing documents, forms and learning materials for society in different languages would definitely help.

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One way I can reduce my implicit bias is by gaining knowledge and become aware of culture. What I mean by that is more like getting to know one’s culture that is different from mine. A couple examples could be like food, language, rituals, beliefs, etc. Experiencing this would allow me to have a better social connection with them and change the level of awareness of my beliefs. One way I would heighten my awareness of the influence of culture and language in healthcare is to learn about their different beliefs in health care and be understanding that their culture and beliefs are different than mine. It’s better to have a healthy open mind than have assumptions that can lead to bad social connections.

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One way I can reduce implicit bias is always to be open-minded. As explained in the materials, implicit bias is more subconscious and is not done purposely. Every person has personal views so there must be equity to accommodate each individual. To reduce the likelihood of implicit bias, I will learn about different practices and beliefs to remain as culturally competent as possible with patients. I will listen to my patients and work around their practices to make them feel understood. As a future healthcare provider, having good relationships with patients is important to build connections and trust. This will improve the quality of care we can provide to patients.

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One way I would reduce implicit bias is by participating and engaging in culture competency classes or workshops. Through these workshops I will be able to recognize and understand bias that I may have that I might not be aware of and improve myself in that regard. One way I can heighten my awareness of how I view the influence of culture and language in healthcare is by learning about various cultures and their beliefs/values, especially regarding healthcare.

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The reduction of my implicit bias would best occur through engagement with communities outside my own cultural background. I am open-minded, curious, and interested in learning about different cultures. However, as a student, there are many things I hear or read about but do not fully understand. A more concrete action would be to attend cultural events, join community gatherings, and have meaningful conversations with people from diverse backgrounds. By building real relationships and understanding others through personal experiences, I can challenge biases and become more inclusive.

I will study how language barriers and cultural factors affect patient-provider interactions. Many people avoid hospitals due to fear of being misunderstood. To increase my awareness, I will research the challenges non-English speakers face, explore medical interpretation services, and learn about culturally competent care strategies. I would also like to familiarize myself with basic medical terminology in commonly spoken languages, such as Spanish or Mandarin, as this will help me communicate better with diverse populations in my future career.

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One way I can reduce implicit bias is by increasing awareness through self-reflection. Implicit bias might occur when a patient is of a different background or has a different language, but it is important implicit bias does not affect patient care. I will put myself in the patient's shoes to understand their situations and concerns because their challenges might not be challenges for me or others. I need to understand their cultural background and living situations so that patient care is free of any assumptions. It is better to have empathy and consider their circumstances rather than relying on assumptions. It can help strengthen trust and make more unbiased decisions, leading to better healthcare.

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One way that I can work to reduce my implicit biases is through perspective taking. This is when you put yourself in the other person’s shoes to better understand their point of view/experiences and empathize with them. Additionally, one way that I can increase my awareness of how I view culture and language’s impact on the healthcare system is by obtaining a basic understanding of the cultures of the communities I work with. Cultural competency is essential for community health workers.

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One way I can reduce my own implicit bias is by putting myself in patients' positions and taking into account how their individual life experiences may differ from my own; this will reduce unconscious bias in the healthcare industry. This leads to more considerate, customized service and challenges your preconceived notions. Asking patients about their preferred method of discussing health concerns and their cultural views on sickness and treatment might help you better understand how language and culture affect healthcare. Practicing other people's understanding of cultural variations, such as how some people describe symptoms or how they feel about particular treatments, can help healthcare providers deliver more effective and considerate care.

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After going through this weeks modules I realized that the first real step to reducing your own implicit bias is to become aware. The Cultural competence check in was a good way to become aware of and learn about how I personally view the influence and impact of cultures. I would say that I have done a pretty good job so far throughout my life. For example I have immersed myself in learning various languages when I travel, and due to curiosity. I also listen to a lot of podcasts that touch on the reality of our societies response to different cultures. Although I believe that I have done a good job of being aware and engaged, there is always room for improvement. I would say that I can do a better job of expanding my social circle and trying to create meaningful conversations and connections with people from all different backgrounds. In terms of healthcare, we understand that accessibility to all kinds of care is essential to quality health. Many people shy from visiting providers due to language barriers, lack of understanding of cultural lifestyle practices, and just the fact that it is easier for them to be misunderstood. I believe that as a student of Public Health and someone who will be in healthcare, it is a priority of mine to not only educate myself, but to educate those around me. I want to continue to learn so that I may serve those coming from all cultures and backgrounds.

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One way that I can reduce my own implicit bias is by perspective like “Putting yourself in the other person’s shoes”. Trying to see the world from someone else's point of view can allow me not to judge or make assumptions about someone quickly. Putting myself in the shoes of a person with a different background or who has different experiences helps me think about the struggles and challenges they experience. I feel for those who might be affected by stereotypes and barriers who don't have the same opportunities as I do. Enhancing my sympathy for those with different backgrounds and asking myself what I would do if I were in their situation is a great way to see where they are coming from and know their perspectives. From a medical perspective, instead of thinking a patient is being stubborn or different, I could ask myself how hard it must be if they have struggled with past trauma and negative experiences to get to this point.

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One way I can reduce my own implicit bias is by practicing perspective-taking. This means consciously putting myself in the individual/patients’ shoes and considering their unique experiences, challenges, and perspectives. By doing this, I can practice empathy and make more informed, unbiased decisions when providing care. Additionally, I can embrace cultural humility, which reminds me that learning about different cultures is an ongoing process, and I should approach each patient interaction with openness and a willingness to learn instead of judgement and assumptions.

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When learning more about this week's topic of implicit bias, specifically that of unconscious biases I took a step back and considered what biases I possess. Before this lecture, I never considered I had any. To my surprise, I could think of a handful of biases that were in many ways shaped by my upbringing and the groups I surround myself with (even though I consider myself to be a sympathetic and culturally aware person). Although not easy, doing a deep dive into your personal bias is necessary and important to make strides in bettering the quality of care patients get in the public health sphere. After taking the cultural competence test, I was surprised to discover that I knew less about populations than I thought I knew. I think to better educate myself and learn about these cultures, I need to make more friends with these demographics and immerse myself in their cultures and traditions to get a better understanding. One way I have started to do this is by making friends with more people of Middle Eastern backgrounds and having them teach me all sorts of things from their favorite cultural music, to their history, to their favorite foods. Doing so has allowed me to become more familiar with this group’s customs and has granted me helpful insight I can tap into when I become a healthcare professional later on. Further, I plan to continue my engagement with people of other backgrounds to broaden my horizons and moving forward I would also love to learn the basics of commonly spoken languages in the United States other than English.

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One way that you can deal with implicit bias is engaging with diverse media. This includes watching shows, watching movies, listening to different music, reading books, and following different influencers on social media. It’s important to engage with different cultures in order to see their perspective and understand their walks of life. By watching diverse media, you are seeing cultures for how they want to be seen and by doing so, you are changing societal narratives in your brain and re-organizing your implicit bias. Not only is this an easy way to fix a serious problem, but it’s a way to get to know people better and to find new forms of art and creation that you may really enjoy. This will help you practice, cultural humility in healthcare by understanding, different things such as body language, language, values, and ways of life. You’ll begin to understand how different cultures act than your own and how this will be seen in health behaviors and health outcomes. It will help you see the individuals that make up these communities and have a more personal connection. Because of this, there will be a deeper individual push for equity indifferent systems such as the healthcare system. One way you can better understand the influence of culture and language and healthcare and having implicit bias is by doing better research about different cultural habits in their own healthcare. It’s important to do a comparison for myself between white healthcare and Americanized healthcare versus how it looks in different cultures and for minorities in America, who are forced to meet white standards in the system. This research can be done in the more academic sense through reading and professional development. It also can be done by once again, engaging with different communities and different professionals who may have different opinions in yourself. This is also where consultation is important and leading all practices through a patient center approach where they are allowed to share their story in totality this way you gather as much information as possible to make a health decision that is culturally aware, culturally, sustainable, and in the best interest of the patient.

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To reduce implicit, it is important to continue learning by taking bias training, reading about different disparities, and getting feedback from others. I will focus on asking more open ended questions to be more engaged. This will help me to be more aware of how different languages and cultures impact healthcare and their systems. Understanding patient beliefs and values will help with better communication.

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One way to reduce my own implicit bias is through the concept of individuation. This concept is the idea of actively focusing on each patient as a unique individual rather than relying on stereotypes. This means taking the type to learn about the personal history of patient, their cultural background, and specific healthcare concerns. This ensures that the care I give is personalized and equitable. I believe I can proactively learn about different cultures, types of communication styles based on culture, and behaviors of diverse populations as suggested in the Cultural Competence Check In. This means seeking assistance from interpreters and giving take-home resources in a patient's preferred language. These actions are directly inclusive and much more effective for making a difference in healthcare.

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The Institute for Healthcare Improvement explains how implicit bias is a phenomenon that happens in everyone. We unfortunately live in a world where everyone has preconceived thoughts about certain groups of people. It can be based on race, gender, height, weight, and even more characteristics. One way to reduce implicit bias in myself is to simply interact with more people outside of my culture. The video had me thinking about how many of my friends are Latino or Hispanic and I really do not know many people who are Black, Native American, or APISAA. Because of this, I really have no familiarity with their cultures other than what I have learned in my college courses. I think it is better to learn and interact with different cultures yourself to reduce implicit bias since you are intentionally immersing yourself into someone's culture. By doing so, it can eliminate any stereotypes that one may have on a certain culture because they have interacted with them and not just heard about other people's wrongful assumptions.

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Implicit bias is something that everyone has within them, and it is important to realize that it is present in order to start reflecting and transitioning into more equitable future healthcare workers. Reducing implicit bias takes a lot of self reflection, and that is one way on how I will reduce my own unaware biases on different demographic groups. While taking the cultural competence check in, I realized that while I do these skills when I'm in a healthcare setting, I do not seek out as many opportunities to educate myself on different groups of people I am not familiar with. Therefore, I hope to gain more insight on different populations of people through research and seeking out conversations in order to become a culturally competent healthcare worker and ally for them. I think one way to heighten the way I view the influence of culture in the healthcare setting is to be present and listen to the different patients I care for during my nursing clinical. I can be proactive on using the digital translator services on the floor so that the patient is able to properly communicate with the healthcare team and that the healthcare team can also communicate back to the patient in a language they understand. I can also establish rapport with my patients by asking them about their culture and their preferences to provide a safe and comforting healing experience.

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This week we focused on the implicit biases that we have and their impact on our daily lives. Once reviewing my results on the assignments and cultural competence check, I reflected on possible steps in reducing my implicit bias by taking the moment and being aware of my surroundings and understanding the situation around me. For example, surrounding and engaging in diverse perspectives that I have little experience in. Something that can be easily done is following social media pages that advocate for the voices of communities who have been marginalized by society. By doing so, it allows me to educate myself and partake in movements that influences future generations. On the otherhand, one way that this can heighten my awareness is how culture and language influence society's treatment. Thinking about what is going around with poltical views, this allows us to put ourselves in the shoes of communities who are being affected in various of settings today. This includes understanding how cultural beliefs impact decisions, such as languages, daily life interactions and building relationships with those around you. It is crucial to recoginize our implicit bias, we unconsciously think of things that may not be applicable or appropriate at all to mention. This then can be spread and connected to the many instances where ideas or policies are put into place to benefit certain groups of people, creating non diverse communities.

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To reduce implicit bias, one effective method is to engage in regular self-reflection. This can involve setting aside time to actively assess and challenge my automatic thoughts and assumptions about people from different backgrounds. By understanding my biases and questioning their origins and impact, I can consciously work to prevent them from affecting my behavior, particularly in healthcare settings where impartiality is crucial. To heighten awareness of the influence of culture and language in healthcare, I can seek out education and training opportunities that focus on culture competency and language barriers in healthcare. This could involve attending workshops, reading relevant research, or participating in discussions on how cultural norms and language affect patient-provider communication and care. By learning about different cultural perspectives and understanding how language influences healthcare outcomes, I will be better equipped to provide more inclusive and effective care.

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1. Based on these assignments it is best to understand our own implicit bias as it is important across all fields. Unconscious bias is the most common in the U.S. in which causes the inequity. For health professionals specifically it is told to follow three steps to reduce implicit bias, know your own bias, understand your social contract and the connections you make. Finally it is advised to create a diverse group of friends. In addition with reflection upon the article from the Institute of Healthcare Improvement some ways to reduce implicit bias include to not stereotype any patients, to have a basic understanding of the culture the patients come from and lastly the teach back method.

After completing the Culturally Responsiveness Practice, I opinionize myself as culturally competent. A large portion of my answer ratings were 1. To reflect I answered things that I sometimes do towards asking clients/patients about the ability to use English and additional languages. I chose 2 for this because it seems like an insult and can make the patient feel ashamed if I, worker of service delivery, only asked them to speak English. It is best to rather recognize the patient based on behavior and communication to best of ability. Furthermore, for a thing I rarely do I chose storytelling to allow for alternative methods of sharing experiences and communication. I chose and believe I wouldn’t do this action in the time with a patient because I want them to tell me their stories and previous experiences. Additionally since all patients are unique in their own way, my shared storytelling may not be helpful for everyone.

3.  One way I can reduce my own implicit bias is creating a social connection with individuals I normally do not surround myself with. One way I can heighten my awareness of how to view the influence of culture and language in healthcare by increasing my knowledge of language developmental history for all languages most common to the area I work in. Additionally I can heighten my awareness by understanding history of cultures approached.

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One way to reduce my implicit bias is by using stereotype replacement. This means recognizing when I have a biased thought, questioning it, and replacing it with a more fair perspective. For example, instead of assuming that someone from a specific background won’t follow medical advice, I need to pause and think about their situation. Instead of relying on stereotypes, I should focus on the person’s individual needs. Doing this can help me treat people more fairly and avoid making assumptions. Another way to increase my awareness of how culture and language affect healthcare is by practicing perspective-taking. This means listening to patients and understanding the challenges they might face because of their culture or language. By asking open-ended questions, I can learn more about how their beliefs and traditions affect their healthcare choices. Being aware of these differences and showing respect for them will help me provide better care and connect with people in a more meaningful way.

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After viewing the materials, among the different ways that are pivotal in reducing implicit bias, I could improve my implicit bias by seeking opportunities to engage with individuals from different cultural, ethnic, and social groups. Although there are other areas I could improve on, I think engaging with other groups is more paramount to me.

Actively engaging and communicating with different groups allows individuals to move beyond stereotypes and recognize the complexity of human experiences. Often, implicit bias stems from a lack of exposure to people who are different from oneself. When individuals only interact with those who share similar backgrounds, values, or lifestyles, they may unconsciously reinforce stereotypes and generalizations. However, by fostering relationships with diverse individuals, one can begin to see people as unique and multifaceted rather than as representatives of a particular group.

Nonetheless, although I can easily empathize and try to put myself in one's position. I have to recognize my implicit bias, consciously unlearn biases, and embrace diversity so individuals can contribute to a more inclusive and equitable society. Since I want to enter the healthcare workforce, reducing implicit bias is pivotal in providing optimal care and ensuring patients are being heard with humility and integrity.

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One way that I can reduce my implicit bias is by doing regular self reflection checks to make sure that I am being self aware about my actions and words. While implicit bias can happen often without consciousness, doing regular self reflection can help reduce that, and help to be more self aware about when I am using implicit bias. One way that I can heighten my awareness of culture and language in healthcare is to constantly be aware of different cultural needs and make sure that I am always looking from multiple different perspectives. It is also important to complete cultural competency trainings as well, and to do my own research to understand better.

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After reading and watching about the forms of bias such as explicit and implicit bias, it has opened my eyes in the ways that implicit bias can be done at any given time without actually knowing that it is happening. Which is why it is important to known our own implicit biases and become aware of them, as well as taking a social inventory of the amount of diverse population within our spaces, and lastly to create a diverse group of friend, which will decrease the amount of implicit bias from happening. Additionally, after completing the "cultural Competence Check-in: Culturally Responsive Practice" I have noticed that I already practice cultural competence when it comes to working in a clinical setting, because i have worked in a clinic that partake a allopathic and holistic practices. However, I do see implicit bias happening at time when I refer patients to mainstream practices rather than consulting with them about their own preferences. Aside from that, one way I can reduce my own implicit bias is by exposing myself to a variety of cultural traditions, including their way of living because it will help me understand an individual better without automatically stereotyping them or jumping to my own conclusions. One way I can heighten my awareness of how I view the influence of of culture and language in healthcare is being able to communicate in a patients preferred language in order to communicate more effectively about one's own beliefs when it comes to their own health and wellbeing.

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One way I can reduce my own implicit bias is to connect with diverse groups of people. This includes attending cultural events for racial and ethnic groups. For example, the Tet Festival happens yearly to celebrate the lunar new year. Attending this festival can help me explore the traditions and values of Vietnamese people. By connecting with people, I can gain knowledge of their culture through different perspectives. This would help me to not generalize a group as a certain stereotype. One way I can heighten my awareness of how I view the influence of culture and language in healthcare is learning cultural competency. By learning cultural competence, I have awareness of how different cultures' values and beliefs play a role in their healthcare. For example, groups may prefer to go to a western doctor or to a traditional doctor. Being culturally competent can also help me understand that many cultures also utilize their native language and may need a translator to understand their healthcare. Cultural competency can help bring these perspectives to the forefront when it comes to healthcare.

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This week's assigned readings and viewings were very eye-opening to me. Before, I always assumed that I had very little implicit bias, and that I was very understanding and empathetic of others--now I realize that implicit bias affects everyone, myself included, and that there are many strategies to help reduce it. One strategy I think that I'll use to reduce my inherent implicit bias is perspective taking, as I think putting myself in other people's shoes and being empathetic is an effective way to reduce implicit bias. Instead of judging a person based solely on their actions, I should instead be judging people based on their unique challenges they may face, their prior experiences, and their cultural context. What may be normal here may not be normal for someone who doesn't come from here; for example, in the example case study published by Healthy Androscoggin depicting an immigrant from Somalia receiving healthcare, I never would have imagined that waiting to see a doctor could be viewed as a sign of disrespect in Somalia, whereas over here, most doctors appointments involve waiting ten, fifteen, or even thirty minutes! Furthermore, along with perspective taking, one way that I can heighten my awareness of how I view the influence of culture and language in healthcare is by increasing my opportunities for contacting with individuals in different groups. I believe that, the more I go out there, the higher of a chance I'll have to meet a wide, diverse, spectrum of people who have different cultural values and perspectives. By doing this, I can both reduce my implicit bias, and heighten my awareness of other people's cultures and better myself.

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After reading, watching, and completing the materials for the week I have had the opportunity to reflect on implicit bias in society and in my own life. One of the ways I can reduce implicit bias is by increasing contact with people from different groups. This allows me to gain a deeper understanding of different cultures and learn more about ethnic backgrounds that are different from my own. This pushes me to encounter positive experiences that have the ability to challenge preconceived notions. It also helps me to break down any barriers that were present in reflecting on my own biases. Ultimately, this exposure has the power to change my own attitudes and thoughts I may have initially had, both conscious and unconscious.

Additionally, one way I can increase my awareness on my views of culture and language in healthcare is by engaging in conversations with coworkers and patients of different backgrounds, as well as reading diverse perspectives in medical publications. This will help me gain a better understanding of their cultural needs and improve my perspective on how language can impact their experiences with healthcare. They will also be able to inform me on ways I can help with this problem as a future healthcare provider. This new information will challenge my initial perspectives and thoughts in order to push for growth in how I behave and think toward people with different cultural and linguistic origins than my own.

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After completeing the cultural competence check and reading materials, I learned that something that I should work on is reducing the presence of implicit bias in my life. I realize that this can be worked on by exposing myself to different cultural backgrounds and explore how stereotyping affects the way I view people outside of my own culture. By removing stereotypical thoughts, I can improve the way I treat everyone and strengthen bonds across cultures. This is very important in the healthcare field as many patients vary in cultural background, thus affecting the way treatment plans or diagnoses need to be addressed or tackled. By being open to other cultures, I am able to listen to patients without bias or stereotyping, applying methods to appeal to their cultural needs and also being mindful to the challenges they may face as a result of their background.

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After completing the assigned material, I have found that one way that I can reduce my implicit bias is by using individuation noted in the How to Reduce Implicit Bias article. To utilize this, I would need to get to know a person on a deeper level before coming to any conclusions about them. This would prevent any biases that I am unaware of because I would understand their background as it relates to their family and culture. I could then relate any conclusions I draw about them to their background and upbringing, rather than any preconceived ideas I may have had. It is important to address one's implicit biases because they can lead to various issues. These issues may be treating people a certain way without giving yourself the chance to get to know them or, in the workplace, treating some differently than others for reasons beyond the person's control. Treating everyone equally helps level the playing field and give more people a chance to succeed.

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After completing the cultural competence check and reading the assigned material, I learned so much about my unintentional thoughts that unwillingly occur every day. Highlighting the problem is step one to stop it from occurring. One way I can reduce my implicit bias is if I know who I am about to talk to, for example, a scheduled appointment with someone, I will mentally prepare myself for the situation theyre currently in and possible background. If it's a regular day conversing with colleagues or random people, slowing down to realize who I am talking to and making a quick analysis will improve my judgment and ultimately benefit my responses. I can use this skill at my workplace while caring for patients who are either about to go home to their loved ones or who are on their deathbeds surrounded by sobbing family. The big takeaway for me, especially working in the healthcare system, that will prevent implicit bias is slowing down to think about what a person is going through instead of snap-judging them.

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After doing this week's cultural competence and reading materials, I understand that reducing implicit bias is an ongoing process that requires self-awareness and continuous effort. One effective way to reduce my implicit bias is through continuous education and exposure to diverse perspectives. I can achieve this by actively seeking out and engaging with literature, media, and experiences that challenge my preconceived notions and broaden my understanding of different cultures, backgrounds, and experiences. By doing so, I can become more aware of my biases and work towards minimizing their impact on my thoughts and actions. For example, I can attend different kinds of workshops to further expose myself to different ways of thinking.

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After reflecting upon my cultural humility and cultural competency, I realized something I can work on is getting into contact with individuals from different backgrounds from that of my own. This can help me explore the different upbringings of people and how they may be different or similar to mine. Although I have diverse friends, I know I can expand on meeting more individuals, whether it be through networking at school. In general, I can definitely attend events or research more about cultures and backgrounds I am not familiar with to get a glimpse of what it is like. Not only this, but individualization is something I never thought about until the readings. Even if people share the same cultures, they may experience them differently, which is why it is so important to treat them individually rather than stereotypically. This is important, especially in the context of healthcare, because not all individuals, for example, with a Buddhist upbringing, may experience the religion the same as there are various types of it.

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After reflecting on my biases and how they can affect my interactions with others, I realize I can work on reducing them by learning from people with different backgrounds. By listening to their experiences and understanding their perspectives, I can challenge my assumptions and become more open-minded in my personal life and my future career in public health. I know that bias is not always something we notice right away so I need to be aware of my thoughts and actions and make a real effort to change them. This means paying attention to the media I watch the people I interact with and the way I approach new situations with an open mind instead of making quick judgments. To better understand how culture and language affect healthcare, I need to learn more about different beliefs and traditions that influence how people view health. I can do this by taking part in training programs reading about health differences in various communities and even learning simple phrases in different languages to help me communicate better. By doing these things I can make sure that I treat people with respect and help create a healthcare system that is fair and welcoming for everyone.

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After reflecting on cultural competence and reading the materials from this week, I learned so much about cultural humility and implicit bias. One way that I can reduce my own implicit bias is my replacing stereotypes in my mind. I feel that sometimes I categorize people a certain way before I give them a change, so that is definitely something I can work on. I can also spend time with people outside of my comfort zone or people who may be different from me. This could include listening to their stories or cultural beliefs and practices. I can heighten my awareness on how I view the influence of culture and healthcare by looking for culturally appropriate materials when I go to the doctor. I know I may not need them, but I would like to see if they are available for other people groups. If I was a healthcare worker, I would probably consider asking a patient what their cultural beliefs are as well as asking them if they are interested in a more non-traditional healthcare path. I think making interpreters more common would also help.

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One way to reduce my implicit bias is through stereotype replacement. I can do this by actively identifying when a biased thought arises, questioning its validity, and consciously replacing it with an individualized and unbiased perspective; rather than assuming that a patient from a certain background may not adhere to treatment, I must pause and consider their unique circumstances rather than relying on generalizations. To increase my awareness of how culture and language influence healthcare, I can engage in perspective-taking. By listening to patients' experiences and challenges related to their cultural and linguistic backgrounds and asking open-ended questions about how their beliefs, traditions, or language barriers affect their healthcare decisions, I can build a deeper understanding and provide more culturally responsive care.

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After reflecting on the assignments and my own results in the cultural competence check-in, although I understand that each individual has a different culture and sometimes requires different ways of treatments that fit them, I've noticed that I have very little interaction and understanding of people with different cultures and customs that wasn't similar to my own. Therefore, to reduce my implicit bias, I need to seek out more diverse perspectives from multiple people who have different cultural backgrounds from my own. This can be done by asking other students, co-workers, patients, and any individual about their culture, stories, language, and customs to improve my understanding of different cultures and backgrounds. Not only would this help me understand more about different cultures and customs, but it would also help build a bond with the patient, student, co-worker, or any individual I'm communicating with, which would help in the long run. Meanwhile, One way to heighten my awareness of culture and language in healthcare is similar to what I've described earlier, which was to interact and ask more questions about a patient's cultural beliefs, background, and language. This way, I would be able to build a trusting relationship and better understand different cultures and languages to better help that patient and future patients.

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After seeing my results on the cultural competence check, I can reduce my implicit bias by having self reflection and asking for feedback from my coworkers about my interactions when it comes to diverse settings. I can also self educate myself by listening to their stories and attending more cultural events. By doing these, I will be able to challenge any assumptions I have that can influence my behavior unconsciously. By heightening my awareness, I can learn a third language such as Spanish to be able to communicate on a basic level with patients in case my coworkers that know the language are busy. I can also use educational materials to make sure patients feel respected and understood because sometimes, the reason they don't make doctor visits is because of a language barrier. I can also build relationships with patients to get a better understanding of their cultural beliefs and preferences. This way it would help me view each patients culture and the languages they use as a middle to delivering a more effective healthcare delivery.

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After reflecting on our assignments and on the cultural competence check-in I can reduce my own implicit bias by utilizing stereotype replacement. I would say that I am aware of how I treat everyone and I do so without bias but I recognize that I have some shortcomings that can be improved by recognizing a stereotypical response and replacing it with a non-stereotypical response. By utilizing this I can eliminate or at least reduce any microaggressions that I can cause someone. One way that I can heighten my awareness of how I view the influence of culture and language is putting myself in someone else's shoes. By putting myself in their shoes, I can understand how a practitioner not accounting for their culture can make them feel unseen and discouraged.