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how can I reduce implicit bias and heighten my awareness?

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how can I reduce implicit bias and heighten my awareness?

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One way that I can reduce my own implicit bias is having more of a “perspective taking” view to reduce any implicit bias between family, friends, and colleagues. Being aware of this allows me to build healthy strategies to reduce any other implicit biases from becoming a trait. Another way I can reduce my implicit bias is individuation, by seeing the person as an individual rather then associating them with the typical stereotype.

One way I can heighten my awareness of how I view the influence of culture and language in healthcare is taking note of the implicit biases I may have, self reflect on inventory check, and take action.

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In my opinion, I feel like there are a good number of ways that I personally can reduce something like my own implicit bias. The first way, would be something as simple as being more open minded. I feel as if I am a very open minded person to begin with, but there is always room for improvement. This would help me reduce my own bias by being open to more suggestions and being more acceptant. Another way I can reduce implicit bias would be to expose myself to crowds I am not familiar with. This is a big one that I believe anyone can benefit from, for the simple reason that it can be easy to be surrounded by the same sort of crowd a majority of your life growing up. With exposure to other kinds of crowds, I can get a more broad understanding of the differences these groups have. Finally, another way I could reduce implicit bias would be to become more knowledgeable about multiple diversities. It is always in everyones best interest that you stay educated and up to date on how minority groups are treated, especially in a health care setting. While it is nice to know about your own specific kind of struggles, it would be ignorant to turn a blind eye away from others struggles as well.

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One way I can reduce my own implicit bias is by intentionally practicing mindfulness when interacting with individuals. I can pause and remind myself to approach them with an open mind, free from preconceived notions. By doing this regularly, I can better focus on the individual in front of me rather than allowing unconscious biases to shape my judgments. Mindfulness helps me to be more present, aware, and empathetic, especially in the health field. I must understand the differences in culture, age, gender, ethnicity and acknowledge

To heighten my awareness of the influence of culture and language in healthcare, I can actively participate in cultural competency courses and training that focus on the healthcare needs of different cultural groups. These courses can broaden my understanding of how cultural values and language barriers impact patient care. Additionally, I can make a habit of engaging patients in discussions regarding their own cultural health beliefs and preferences. This will further expand my awareness and adaptability as an individual.

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After completing the "Culturally

Responsive Practice" assignment, I realized that my cultural competence could be further improved by seeking deeper understanding and exposure to diverse cultural practices. Cultural competence is not a one-time achievement but a continuous learning process. The questions helped me assess my ability to engage effectively with patients from diverse backgrounds and identify areas where I could improve, particularly in recognizing cultural differences in communication, decision-making, and treatment preferences.

One practical way I can reduce my own implicit bias is through regular reflection and education. By consistently engaging in activities such as taking the IAT, participating in diversity and inclusion training, and reading about different cultural experiences, I can heighten my awareness of how my unconscious biases may influence my behavior. Keeping a journal of my reflections after patient encounters can help me identify moments where implicit biases might have played a role.

To increase my awareness of how culture and language influence healthcare, I can engage in active listening and cultural immersion. Actively seeking opportunities to work with patients from diverse cultural backgrounds will help me better understand their unique perspectives and healthcare needs. I can also make a concerted effort to learn basic medical terms in languages frequently spoken by my patient population, which would help bridge communication gaps and improve patient care.

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Both the video and the article do a great job of addressing implicit bias. Implicit bias is an unconscious bias that can most often affect the way we perceive characteristics such as gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status, and physical appearance such as height or weight. Most of these biases are often unintentional. Implicit bias can affect the way medical professionals treat patients. Personally, I believe that I need to be more mindful of when I may be using an implicit bias, especially when working within a health community. I think doing research and being aware that there may be bias would help reduce my implicit bias.

One way to avoid cultural/language bias is to be culturally competent. This is to realize that everyone has a different background or language. Having an understanding and respect for other languages or cultures will help to reduce bias.

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One way I can reduce my own implicit bias is to recognize my own bias. By acknowledging my own bias, I can become more aware and mindful at respecting others' situations and circumstances. Everyone goes through different experiences through their lifetime and I need to be more sensitive about their opinions, values, and worldviews because this helps individuals become more comfortable and safe around me. When learning about others' situations and circumstances, I can better communicate and understand ways to provide the necessary care needed. Being in public health and health care, the goal is to help individuals. Thus, I need to understand our differences and learn more about different cultures to help individuals. One way that I can heighten your awareness of how you view the influence of culture and language in healthcare by learning about their culture and language. I can talk and interact with someone who ha a similar background to closely discuss about their views, customs, traditions. etc. to better grasps their lifestyle. When informing myself on these topics, I can accommodate to individuals' lifestyles.

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After going through this assignment and its content I have found that no matter how culturally competent a person believes they are there will always be a degree of implicit bias that they are unaware of. There may be situations where medical professionals may be unaware of their actions and words. It is our job to always welcome room to grow and learn about how as healthcare workers and individuals can work on our cultural competence to be better workers in the industry. It's important to see many perspectives to ensure that we don't let our own unconscious biases change the way we provide healthcare and overall help the healthcare system thrive.

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The video and article provided really eye opening and insightful definitions and examples of bias and ways to reduce it. Bias is a complex set of emotions that attach to one another that affect the way we perceive or remember certain things, leading to decision making. The two forms of bias explicit bias and implicit bias. Explicit bias is considered the conscious bias. It is when someone holds certain beliefs of people of a certain gender, race, sexuality, or religion. Implicit is also called the unconscious bias, where individuals have ingrained habits of thought leading to errors in perception, reason, remembering, and decision making. I would like to say my friend groups and peers are very diverse in regard to categories such as religion, race, and sexuality. The step I can take to reduce implicit bias is to thoroughly reflect on the circles of people I surround myself with and seek out more diversity within my friend groups. Seeking out diversity whether it be with people of different culture, sexuality, or religion will help reduce implicit bias as it will allow me to get a better understanding of individuals different from me.

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Both the article and the video addresses how our implicit biases can affect the health of others around us. Health providers' implicit biases have been shown to affect patients' decision-making, treatments, interactions, outcomes, and more. As we are learning to be part of this field in the future, it is necessary to address our biases on a deeper level so we can continue to practice cultural humility. Consistent education and involvement in communities other than yours are essential to reducing implicit bias. As a person who grew up in a community that looks similar to me, I needed to engage in communities other than my own as I go into the helping field. Without continuous education and community involvement, engaging in actions to help address our implicit biases will be hard. One way I can heighten my awareness of how I view the influence of culture and language in healthcare is to understand patients' cultures better and the impact of stereotypes in healthcare. Having a better understanding of cultures is an obvious way to heighten my awareness. As I am learning more about other communities, this would make me more informed about cultural and language practices. However, I think it is also essential to address stereotypes, both the "good" and the bad, and how they can affect the health care of individuals. I feel that sometimes health providers can assume, which leads to patients being reluctant to access health. So, it is crucial to address stereotypes. As for the cultural competency check, one thing I learned was to learn more about alternative medicine and the possible involvement of clients in that. The check shows that I have a lot to learn!

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The video and article assigned explains what implicit and explicit bias is and the differences in such a simple way for everyone to understand. We already know that explicit bias heavily affects the healthcare industry negatively, however, most people do not realize implicit bias can cause more harm in the industry than explicit bias. The video and article speaks on how to reduce our implicit biased and how healthcare professionals can address it. As for the check-in assignment, I noticed that I had a lot of ones and twos. I like to say I am pretty open-minded when it comes to other cultures and their beliefs, because I grew up wanting to learn about other cultures. However, I do have some threes which I can improve on and I can improve on my implicit bias by being more aware of my thoughts and how I treat others based on my thoughts. As for heightening my awareness on my view of other cultures, I can expose myself to other cultures more often than now. In addition, I am also taking an alternative healing therapies course which teaches me about holistic practices from other cultures.

Jenny Le

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The material supporting this assignment perfectly explained the impact bias has on our daily lives and in the workplace. Unfortunately, bias will always be a part of society, but it comes down to us to actively think and check ourselves and our own actions. Throughout my life, I learned that the way I perceive people sometimes reflects bias, assumptions, and stereotypes of people I interact with. Transitioning to college opened me up to diverse groups of people and cultures that I was not exposed to. Learning about implicit bias in past classes and this class strengthened my knowledge and awareness of the importance of reducing bias in my personal life and workplace. I have worked in healthcare for the past 3 and 1/2 years. The group of people that I mainly cared for were the elderly. Through engagement and interactions, I have always tried to change my way of care by listening to my patient's needs beyond the basics of my job duties. I have always done my best to provide individualized care for each person and treat their experiences with all my attention and effort because sometimes their needs and feelings can be overlooked. Reducing implicit bias in healthcare is a team effort on both parties, the employees and employers. Consistency in education, self-reflection, and active participation are key factors in reducing bias. For me, I always utilize the concept of individuation because patients are people with their own unique experiences, and those unique experiences are essential to figuring out best what their needs are and how to approach individual care. For the cultural competency check, I think one main improvement I can make during patient care is to recognize different cultural practices and perspectives. Again, I will in my future self-reflect on my actions during patient care to further center patient needs to individual.

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When reflecting on the assignments " What is Bias and What Medical Professionals Can Do to Address It",  "How to Reduce Implicit Bias", and the rest of the reading material for this week, I have become more aware of the underlying effects my words and actions can have others unintentionally. Implicit bias is the ingrained habits that permeate one's reason, perception, and decision-making in a casual and professional setting although the material tends to focus on the latter. Such habits harbor unconscious attitudes and stereotypes that influence our daily interactions, which can be countered with strategies like stereotype replacement, counter-stereotypic imaging, individualization, perspective-taking, partnership building, and increasing the diversity of one's friend group. In a professional setting, these precautions are paramount to correct for the sake of health equity among all patients as small laps in judgment can dictate their livelihoods in personal judgment that should not have influenced the physician initially. For example, the video discussed the disparity between the statistics between practitioners and nurses who are "people of color" with them comprising <9% and <15% respectively while their national population is approximately one-third. When reflecting on my implicit bias, one action I could incorporate into my daily life is proactively learning about different cultural behaviors and customs that are prevalent among my friends; I tend to default to aspects of my cultural upbringing when conversing with anyone due to the majority of my life being surrounded by those who share a similar ethnic background as me. I never took the time to listen to my friends who hadn't walked the same path as me because I just assumed they understood me on a peer-to-peer level which was the extent I was comfortable with. Learning about these concepts has made me more aware of the words I say and how I present myself to others.

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I can actively participate in bias training and self-reflection to reduce my own implicit bias, as advised in the implicit bias reduction video. This entails taking tests such as the Implicit Association Test (IAT) to become more conscious of my unconscious biases and taking part in training that focuses on empathy, mindfulness, and identifying bias patterns in decision-making. Learning more about different patient viewpoints will help me become more conscious of how language and culture affect healthcare, as the IHI article points out. I can communicate better and give more culturally competent treatment if I understand how language and culture affect healthcare experiences.

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After reviewing the material for this week, there is a lot of implicit bias that happens even without us thinking about it even in health care where you would think there wouldn't be any. But because of human nature and how we tend to think, there isn't a place where bias is. One way to reduce bias is to take a step back from your own personal perspective and look into it from someone else's. By doing this you can think of what they've had to endure, what previous interactions had happened, and look at it from a different point of view in general. This open mindedness helps expand your own beliefs and can change your actions. In a hospital setting, everyone there is there to receive treatment and leave and that is the job of the doctors and nurses to give equal treatment.

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Reflecting on the assignments "What is Implicit Bias and What Medical Professionals Can Do to Address It" and "How to Reduce Implicit Bias," I better understood how our unconscious biases can influence patient care in healthcare settings. One of the key takeaways is the importance of self-awareness and active efforts to mitigate these biases. In the "Cultural Competence Check-in: Culturally Responsiveness Practice" assignment, I acknowledged areas where I could improve. One way to heighten my awareness of culture and language in healthcare is to engage in ongoing education about the diverse cultural backgrounds of the patients I serve. For me, since I work a lot with Chinese patients, this can be better understanding their culture and customs. I can also reduce my own implicit bias by practicing mindfulness and reflection during patient interactions.

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How to Reduce Bias and Improve Patient Care

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How to Reduce Bias and Improve Patient Care

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In order to reduce my own implicit bias, I can actively start connecting with people from different backgrounds, whether through work, community events, or social activities. As my friends and social circle become more diverse, I can no longer rely on biased assumptions and will develop a deeper understanding of different perspectives. To be more aware of how culture and language affect healthcare. Instead of making assumptions, I can ask open-ended questions like, “Are there any cultural or religious practices I should be aware of that might affect your care?” This simple step encourages patients to share what’s important to them, helping me provide respectful, culturally sensitive care and fostering stronger patient relationships. By expanding my social network and being more mindful of patient interactions, I can work toward reducing bias and improving care.

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As I was going through the readings and videos, I learned that implicit, or unconscious, bias is inevitable because of the habits and thoughts ingrained in our brains. Reflecting on past decisions or behaviors that I have acted upon has made me self-aware of how I act on those them now. One way I would work on reducing my implicit bias is learning about the different cultures by reading about their health systems, how time is managed, what things are similar, and how we can explain the differences. I would also make connections with people from different cultures to ask them questions about how different their systems are back home and how that affected them when they migrated. Another thing that can help is thinking about what we are going to say to someone from a different ethnicity, class, or gender, before actually saying it. If we put ourselves in their shoes or do, perspective taking, we will become even more aware of our bias and change our way of thinking or making decisions.

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The article and video explain implicit bias as an unconscious influence on our thoughts and actions, often leading us to make assumptions or decisions based on stereotypes rather than our own opinions. In healthcare, this can impact patient care by making it harder to achieve health equity. Understanding and addressing this bias is crucial because it affects patient outcomes and the trust and relationship between patients and providers. Implicit bias isn't limited to race; it involves various characteristics such as gender, language, and socioeconomic status, and it often happens without us even realizing it. The uncomfortable truth is that almost everyone has some form of implicit bias because we live in a world filled with stereotypes.

Reducing our own implicit bias begins with awareness. One strategy that resonates with me is individuation, which involves consciously seeing people as individuals rather than group representatives. For example, suppose I meet someone from a particular background. In that case, I can focus on learning about their personal story rather than assuming things based on what I know about their culture or identity. Asking questions, listening actively, and appreciating their unique experiences can help me form a deeper, more accurate understanding of who they are. This active engagement is crucial in our commitment to reducing implicit bias in healthcare.

I can replace stereotypical thinking with more thoughtful, individual-based judgments by approaching others with curiosity and openness. This doesn't happen overnight but can gradually reduce implicit bias and help foster more equitable and respectful relationships over time. Being mindful of my thoughts and actions, especially in situations that trigger bias, is critical to personal growth.

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After watching the different videos along with reading the articles provided I believe that I can reduce my implicit bias through friendships. The video that most stuck out to me was the Somalian women who needed aid and was treated poorly by healthcare workers before their understanding her and her background. I think we are so accustomed to the way American healthcare works that we simply do not take a moment to think about other cultures healthcare. I do believe that some people will blatantly ignore other people's culture because "you live in America now" but that does not help anyone. If you are in the healthcare field for the right reasons then you want everyone to feel better. Part of that is understanding different cultures so you can better inform people on how to get better. In addition, I speak about having diverse friendships because friendships help you understand a person's background in a safe and sound manner. You share stories, laughs, and you are able to ask questions that can open your eyes to a different culture. Language is very important although we may all speak the same language there still is a wall between jargon and more simpler language. We want everyone to feel welcomed and safe but to have that we must know how to. It is okay to explore new friendships with people from different backgrounds. I think people shy away from it because they would have nothing in common but we can at least try.

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What I learned after reading and watching the video, they both highlight the unconscious biases that can affect healthcare and the importance of addressing these biases to make sure everyone gets treated equally. I reflected on my own practices and recognized areas where I can be more culturally responsive. This includes being mindful of how different cultural backgrounds and languages might influence a patient's health beliefs, communication preferences, and overall experience in the healthcare system. One way to reduce my own bias is doing some self reflection and learning more about the implicit bias. By being more aware of my biases, I can work on changing how they influence my decisions and actions. One way to become more aware of the role culture and language play in healthcare is by engaging with diverse group of people. Volunteering or interning in places where I'll interact with patients from various cultures can help me better understand their experiences, making me more responsive to their health needs. I am currently working at an imaging center as a receptionist and I am meeting new people from different cultures everyday. This experience helps me see how cultural differences can affect how patients interact with healthcare services such as how they communicate their concerns or what they expect from their care. The more I engage with people from different backgrounds, the more I learn about their health beliefs. I'm motivated to keep improving my cultural awareness and I'm also looking for more opportunities to enhance my ability to offer better support to people from different backgrounds.

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One way I can reduce my own implicit bias is by increasing my exposure to diverse social groups. For instance, I can make a conscious effort to engage with people from different ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic backgrounds in my community. This could involve attending multicultural events, joining clubs or organizations that promote diversity, or simply fostering friendships with individuals whose experiences differ from my own. This exposure helps to break down stereotypes and preconceived notions, allowing me to develop a more nuanced understanding of people from various walks of life.

To heighten my awareness of how culture and language influence healthcare, I can actively seek out educational opportunities that focus on cultural competence and linguistic diversity in healthcare. This could involve taking courses or attending workshops that emphasize the importance of effective communication across cultural and language barriers. Additionally, I can reflect on patient interactions during my studies or internships, considering how their cultural or linguistic backgrounds may affect their healthcare experiences and outcomes. This reflection will deepen my understanding of how cultural and language shape the delivery of equitable care.

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After reading the different texts and watching the videos, we all have unconscious biases and explicit biases that we must be aware of because they can affect the quality of care we provide as health professionals. One way I can try to reduce my own implicit biases is by engaging in self-reflection activities and bias-reduction training, such as Harvard's Implicit Association Test (IAT). This will help me recognize unconscious biases and challenge my views. After doing the "Cultural Competence Check-in: Culturally Responsiveness Practice" assignment, I realized I could improve my understanding of culture and language in healthcare by reading more multicultural literature and interacting with people from various cultural backgrounds. This will help me understand how cultural factors influence health views and patient communication.

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After reading the different texts, I learned that we all have unconscious and explicit bias that we have to be aware of and can affect the quality of care we give as professionals . The different groups that be negatively affected by these bias are communities that pertain to the LGBTQ+, different ethnicities, sexual orientation and so much more. However, the video "what is bias and what a medical professional can do about it", mentions that unconscious bias is what is the main cause of error with out health care system. I agree with this statement because many times medical professionals unintentionally treat others differently because of the community that they pertain to which is where stereotypes come from. One way we can reduce our implicit bias is by understanding the cultures of where your patients come from. This is important for professionals to understand because their culture can be a reason why they decide not to go through with a certain procedure and what aligns with their values. Everyone is different and we should stop assuming based the communities they associate with and focus on who the people themselves are. I can also apply this to my own life because when meeting new people, I sometimes don't ask anything about themselves and just assume rather than get to know the person. I would like to be more welcoming by getting to know the person and their culture.

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After watching the video "What is Bias and What Medical Professionals Can Do to Address It" and  reading "How to Reduce Implicit Bias." I found that the best way to reduce my Implicit Bias is by placing myself in someone's shoes and trying to understand from their perspective. In my own life, I always practice putting myself in other people's shoes, and it has always worked to my advantage. I can also reduce my implicit bias by learning from my mistakes. I understand that I am not perfect, but if I make mistakes and learn from those mistakes, then I believe I can lower my implicit bias as much as possible.

I can heighten my awareness of how I view the influence of culture and language in healthcare by talking to people from all walks of life. This would give me the experience and knowledge to understand different cultures and languages. Another way I can heighten my awareness is by having a great level of understanding that not all people are the same and that everyone's life experience is completely different than mine. Just because my culture is like this does not mean that everyone should follow. By being understanding and open-minded, I can learn alot.

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After viewing " What is Implicit Bias and What Medical Professionals Can Do to Address It" and "How to Reduce Implicit Bias" I now have a deeper understanding of biases. I was already quite informed on the two different biases, so these modules helped me to brush up on the smaller details pertaining to implicit biases. I liked that the class material, both the readings and videos, helped to show ways to combat biases instead of explaining what they are. Some techniques include perspective talking, counter stereotypic imaging, and partnership building. The strategy of partnership building is one technique that I liked, and it stuck out to me the most. After completing the "Cultural Competence Check-in: Culturally Responsiveness Practice" assignment I learned that there are some holes within my cultural competency. When I am at work I try to listen and understand the diverse populations that come in. one area that I could work on is being attentive to another person’s pronouns. Such as using the strategy of sharing my pronouns and asking a person to specify theirs. One way I can continue to reduce my own implicit biases is to do perspective taking. By putting myself in others shoes it will help me to think and reflect to understand what they need. This will heighten my awareness of how I view the influence of culture and language in healthcare because when I reflect back on how to understand the needs of a patient, I will learn the different needs of the person or culture.

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I learned more about the various forms of bias and their effects after reviewing this week's material. According to the video, bias is the way our minds work, how we interpret information, retain specific details, and arrive at judgments. I was able to distinguish between two types of bias. Explicit bias, commonly known as racism, sexism, etc., and conscious bias. These are conscious biases that people have toward various groups of people. An instance of conscious bias can be observed in the hiring practice of an employer that expressly gives preference to applicants from a specific demographic category, such as hiring only people of a particular gender or ethnicity, because of their personal prejudices or beliefs. Unlike unconscious bias, this kind of bias is purposeful and intentional. However, we have deeply rooted cognitive patterns known as unconscious (implicit) bias, which causes mistakes in the way we understand, recall, and make decisions. Given that the video discussed the medical field, an example from the field of healthcare might be a doctor who, without realizing it, would spend less time with patients from a certain ethnic background than with others because of implicit preconceptions or presumptions about their needs or health-related habits. Although the doctor is unaware of it, this prejudice can affect the standard of care given. After finishing the exercise, I became aware of my age bias, which is directed at my parents and other household members. For example, before my mom got her phone, she did not want one because she would tell us that she did not know anything about technology and that she would not be able to call or send a message. As a result, whenever something goes wrong with her phone, she comes to me for help. Occasionally, it is something as simple as her accidentally clicking an advertisement on YouTube, in which case she says, "I don't know what I did to my phone help me out." I could reduce this bias by encouraging open conversation, respect, and understanding. In addition, I can help them pursue their interests in learning modern technologies or skills so they may become more proficient with their phone, including messaging, and deleting advertisements. By being patient and volunteering to assist them in learning at their own pace, I can likewise reduce my bias. Finally, rather than assuming they know how something works, I could walk them through it step-by-step and encourage them to ask questions.

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From this week’s materials, I’ve gathered how important it is to address implicit bias as a healthcare provider/allied health professional in order to achieve and work towards health equity. In order to do so, we must be aware of implicit bias (including educating ourselves) and make active efforts to redirect our responses to it (in patient interactions). The Cultural competence check-in made me realize how much I didn’t consider language barriers as a source of potential implicit bias. Additionally, it fueled my resolve for wanting to expand my communication skills in languages other than English, at the very least, to let patients know that I care for and am willing to indulge in their culture to help them and understand them, so that they can have positive health outcomes. I can reduce my implicit bias both as a general person and prospective healthcare provider by viewing every patient and person as a unique individual rather than a stereotype (i.e., individuation). I could do this by taking the time to learn about a person’s unique perspectives through their experiences and stories, asking about their values and beliefs. To heighten my awareness of how I view the influence of culture and language on healthcare services, I can consider alternative decisions for treatments from holistic practitioners or consider alternative medicine in addition to/in lieu of Western medicine when I make referrals.

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Reducing Implicit Bias and Increasing Cultural Responsiveness 

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Reducing Implicit Bias and Increasing Cultural Responsiveness 

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After reading and watching the videos for this weeks' topic I can reflect that implicit bias must be recognized in order to achieve health equity and reduce health disparities. Implicit bias is an unconscious habit that leads to poor decision making. For example, underestimating a patient's pain and misinterpreting symptoms. By recognizing implicit biases it can allow patients no matter their race, gender, or sexual orientation to receive proper care. Some ways to reduce implicit bias is by recognizing stereotypes and adjusting response, interacting with diverse populations, and seeing a person as an individual and not stereotype. After completing the practice it brought to my attention that I need to work on being more culturally competent because as a medical assistant I can work on asking patients about their exposure to English. As well as, sharing my pronouns to patients and asking them for theirs. One way that I can reduce my own implicit bias is by using perspective taking which is putting myself in another person's shoes. I may not know what a person has been going through so it is important that I am considerate of how an individual may be feeling. By doing this it will help me develop empathy and understanding while considering another person's perspective. This can allow for stronger relationships and create an inclusive and supportive environment. A way that I can heighten my awareness on how I view language and culture is by spending time in diverse communities and learning about other cultures. Engaging in these practices will allow me to find connections and strengthen relationships with others. I will not only be doing myself a favor but I can become a more influential healthcare individual and provide quality care to others. This will allow individuals to feel more welcomed when being in a healthcare setting. I will use these practices I have learned in this lecture and apply in my everyday life.

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The readings and videos were informative and did a great job explaining implicit bias and its impact. The Cultural Competence Check-In also contained lots of questions that I had not considered before but will be beneficial for the future. As the class materials stated, everybody has assumptions, even if we do not realize it. One way I can reduce my implicit bias is through perspective-taking, pretending to be in someone else's shoes. By doing this, I can better understand the thoughts and beliefs of an individual and reflect on if my behavior is unacceptable. I can learn more about their circumstances and ask myself how I would feel, what questions I might have, or what might be going through my mind. The more I comprehend about another individual or community, the less likely I will believe any stereotypes or have an underlying stigma because I will know better. I can heighten my awareness of how I view the influence of culture and language in healthcare by increasing opportunities for communication with people from different groups. That would be helpful because the more I learn about another culture or group of people, the better I can understand their beliefs, traditions, customs, and the type of healthcare interactions they might expect. By doing that, if I were to interact with someone in a healthcare setting, I would be much better prepared to provide them with appropriate care.

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After going through the material of week 3, a lot of the information surrounding the types of bias and effects of these actions really opened up my own thinking. I realized that the way that healthcare professionals and really many individuals in one's life can heavily impact what they know and understand about their own care. Specifically after watching the cultural competency video, it helped me understand how it may take different approaches to help a patient understand certain events but also that the provider is as much the learner as much as the patient came to health services to learn more about themselves. In this regard it gave me something to work on, specifically that one can never assume that someone will understand in the same way or that employing a different approach may be needed as well as just being an active listener to really understand who it is I am communicating with. I also really appreciated the text on "Cultural Humility vs. Cultural Competence" because it was the text to mention that "cultural competence in clinical practice is best defined not by a discrete endpoint but as a commitment and active engagement in a lifelong process that individuals enter into an ongoing basis with patients".

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I took the Implicit Association Test (IAT) for age to see what my bias would be. It turns out I have a more automatic bias for young people compared to older people. I suppose it makes sense since I had worked with kids for multiple years now; but I took the test having my parents in mind due to them being on the older side and us not seeing eye to eye on many things. While my other peers who have focused on the technological barriers between our generation and our parent's, I wanted to focus more on our world views. I feel it's fairly easy for our generation to be more open-minded as compared to older generations who weren't as progressive as us. Personally speaking, my parents are somewhat conservative baby boomers. Within the "How to Reduce Implicit Bias" article, a strategy to help reduce my implicit bias towards older individuals would be perspective taking. While I can say I already do this, I must constantly improve my knowledge on the type of environment my parents grew up in and how that lifestyle has affected their views today. A way I can heighten my awareness of culture and language in healthcare would be individuation. In doing so, I can acknowledge that each patient is entirely unique and I should not generalize.

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Watching the videos and going through the readings have not only increased my knowledge on bias, but has made me aware of my own habits regarding it. Specifically having a bias in age, it is something I look past and sometimes think everyone has the same perspectives as me. Growing up with my grandparents who are in their 80’s, they tend to move and think slower than compared to younger adults or teenagers I have been around, making me angry at times. I have to explain things to them in simple terms and have seen that they aren’t good with technology, even as simple as making a phone call on a smartphone. I have unintentionally applied that to other parts of my life whether it’s a stranger or a customer at work, I assume that I need to attend to them more with greater patience. After watching the video, I learned that unconscious bias is one of the main causes of inequity in the U.S. because it is something we look past since there are things one may not be aware of or even think of. Within health professions, you must not make assumptions or go off of first impressions because everyone comes from a different background of cultures, experiences, education, and values. Also, I have learned that it isn’t always the case for those who are older. A way I can break this bias is always remembering that some people who are older than me and some of those who are even grandparents may retain information quicker than me or may have knowledge that I’m not aware of. Not letting my own feelings get in the way of treating others in my personal life or work life is crucial. Many want and are able to learn new things, especially when it comes to technology. Going into a profession within healthcare, I must see past not only age but also stereotypes, gender, race, and other cultures. Also with language, I must be aware that some patients may need interpreters or need to be explained things in more simple terms. I know not to assume everyone is capable of the things I can do, but go into things without limitations and get to know patients individually and any needed altercations for a comfortable experience.

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After completing the assignment and watching the video on implicit bias I recognize that I need to be more educated on different cultures and alternative communication styles. Patients may have a preferred method of communication, such as verbal, via videos, or visual aids. I should not assume everyone will be alright following written instructions and offer a variety of different communication styles that will fit their needs. After watching the video, I realized implicit or unconscious bias is one of the leading causes of health inequities and disparities in healthcare. It's not our fault we have implicit biases, but they can significantly influence decision-making and interactions with different individuals. It is important we are aware of and recognize the implicit biases we hold on characteristics such as race, gender, sexual orientation, or age. Understanding the implicit bias we have on certain groups is a great strategy to counter and adjust our initial responses we have. Also, having a diverse group of friends or colleagues can help with reducing implicit biases.

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As I reflect on the videos and readings from week 3, I grow more conscious of the implicit bias patterns I may have in my mind. The material taught us that bias is an algorithm of the mind that includes emotions that decide how we think and act. There is explicit bias (racism, sexism, etc) and implicit bias, which is unconscious and more common. These issues seep into healthcare in how providers, nurses, and medical staff interact with one another and treat patients. Although there is no easy fix, practice can help minimize and undo implicit bias patterns. One way that I can reduce my own implicit bias is by creating a more diverse friend group. My friends come from my childhood Egyptian/Arab community church. Many of my friends share the same skin color, sexual orientation, and religion as me. I can seek out more diverse individuals with different views, cultures, and values to grow more culturally competent. By making personal connections with those different than me, I can intentionally break unconscious thought patterns. This also grows my level of empathy and compassion for others.

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After reflecting on the assignments and completing the cultural competence check-in, I realized I have a language bias. I work in a hospital where people from all different backgrounds come in for appointments or to visit their loved ones. As a receptionist, I am the first face you see when you walk through the doors. Oftentimes, I meet people who can only speak Spanish. Although I am not fluent in Spanish, I know enough to hold a conversation. However, I turn them to coworkers who can help them because it is just easier to do or I get embarrassed to speak a language that I am not completely fluent in. Nevertheless, that does not excuse my behavior in not engaging with people from other backgrounds. So, to reduce this bias I want to actively seek out people from different backgrounds and engage with them. I want to talk to people, learn their languages, and learn about their customs. As someone who wants to work in healthcare, cultural competency and humility is extremely important as patients who see you are in their most vulnerable state. Actively looking to engage with people from different backgrounds is out of my comfort zone which is exactly why I need to do it. I have the best opportunities to do especially because I work in a hospital full of diversity. The last thing I want is for any patient or family member to think I brushed them off or view them as less than because they are unable to speak English.

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After watching the video, it confirmed and made me realize that I possess language bias. As a kid, I have learned to communicate more in English than Thai. Despite being somewhat fluent in Thai, I tend to appeal towards English speakers as I feel that I would be able to communicate with them more. Growing up speaking primary English, I would always become frustrated when my mom tells me to speak Thai to her friends during social events such as parties. This is due to me stereotyping Thai people as “hard to talk to” or those who consider themselves “high-strung”. As someone who is planning to work in the healthcare setting. One way I can reduce my implicit bias is to challenge myself by educating and engaging more those who cannot speak English. I believe that speaking to Thai individuals who cannot speak English, will allow me to boost my knowledge on cultural competence which can be applied to healthcare settings. Additionally, it would help me understand the benefits of being multilingual and how it can help combat communicative barriers.

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After watching videos and the readings provided for this week, I have been reflecting on my personal experiences. I realized that I have an implicit bias towards individuals who speak English fluently. Growing up in an English-speaking environment, I have often unconsciously associated fluency with competence and intelligence, which has influenced how I perceive others. For example, I sometimes find myself being more attentive with those who communicate in English compared to Chinese speakers, even though I know that this is unfair and unfounded. To reduce this bias, I plan to actively seek out and interact with individuals from diverse linguistic backgrounds. This will help me understand the challenges they face and appreciate their unique perspectives. Additionally, I will educate myself on the cultural and cognitive benefits of multilingualism and the challenges non native speakers encounter, which will challenge and broaden my understanding of the Chinese language. This way, I can cultivate more empathy and lessen the influence of my implicit biases. Another way to enhance my awareness of cultural and language influences in healthcare is by participating in training programs or workshops focused on cultural competence and language sensitivity. This training can provide me with tools to better recognize and address my biases, and help me understand how language and culture affect patient interactions and outcomes. During the summer, I interned in a medical office that mainly has Asians, and that made me have to relearn and talk in Cantonese to patients so they can understand me. By actively engaging in these educational opportunities, I can become more mindful of how my views might impact the care I provide and strive to be more inclusive and effective in my approach.

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I recently realized that I have an age bias after watching a video and reading about how to reduce implicit bias. I’ve tended to assume that older people struggle to adapt to new technology, and it never occurred to me how this assumption influenced my thinking until now. For example, my parents often ask for help when something unfamiliar pops up on their phones, or when they need assistance composing a message. My dad even refuses to get a push-start car, saying it’s too fancy for him. These experiences led me to generalize that older individuals, as a whole, find it hard to learn new technology.

To reduce this bias, I plan to educate myself on how different cultures approach technology, particularly how older generations adapt to it. Since I work at a restaurant, I can even take small steps by helping customers who may not be familiar with features like tap-to-pay or Apple Pay. Many older customers express frustration when using different POS systems, so offering to show them how to navigate these tools could not only assist them but also help me challenge my own bias.

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After watching the video, reading the text and taking the project implicit test on age i realized that i have age bias towards younger individuals which caught me by surprise. Ive always thought since a young age that i got along very well with individuals of an older age just because i feel like they always have the best advice and the most interesting stories, as a young kid i even thought i would end up working with elderly individuals it was something i always wanted to do. After taking the project implicit test it showed me that i have 30% preference for younger individuals compared to older. I believe that a stereotype that i possibly place upon elderly individuals might be their physical and cognitive decline and how subconsciously i rather be around younger individuals as they have less barriers that i might have to navigate through. For example, i try to be very patient towards older individuals but i notice that sometimes i get a bit fustrated because i want them to complete something as fast as me but i need to keep in mind they are elderly. I think one way for me to reduce my implicit bias would be to have some self reflection and think about why it is that i prefer to be around younger individuals and understand that these individuals are a bit slower at times. So i must gain some patients towards them. Another way to reduce my bias would be to educate myself more on ageism and understand more about their social and economic aspects of aging that will challenge my stereotype.

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Watching the video and reading "how to reduce implicit bias" made me realize I have an age bias. I've never seen it this way until now! The way I have an age bias is by thinking those who are older aren't able to adapt to new technology. For instance, I see how my parents are with technology they always ask me for help when something pops up on their phone or if I can help them write a message they need to send. My dad doesn't even want to get a push start car since he says thats too fancy for him. All of these reasons and more have made me create a bias that all older people are like this and aren't able to learn new technology. A way that I can reduce this is by educating myself of all the different cultures and seeing how the older individuals within the different cultures react to new technologies and learning them. Since I work at a resturant I can even teach customers who come in how to use the tap to pay feature since many of them don't know how to use it. I can even each them how to use apple pay if they would like me to. This will help them stay up to date since when they try to pay with their card they complain about each pos system machine being different and not knowing how to use it.