Why Do Providers Contribute to Disparities and What Can Be Done About It?

This paper applies social cognition research to understanding and ameliorating the provider contribution to racial/ethnic disparities in health care. We discuss how fundamental cognitive mechanisms such as automatic, unconscious processes (e.g., stereotyping) can help explain provider bias. Even wel...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of general internal medicine : JGIM 2004-11, Vol.19 (11), p.1154-1159
Main Authors: Burgess, Diana J., Fu, Steven S., Van Ryn, Michelle
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
African Americans
Bias
Bioethics
Biological and medical sciences
Cognition
Cognition & reasoning
Cognitive ability
Delivery of Health Care
disparities
Ethics
ethnicity
European Continental Ancestry Group
Health care
Health Services Research
Humans
Internal medicine
Medical sciences
Minority & ethnic groups
Practice Patterns, Physicians
Prejudice
provider behavior
race
social cognition
Social interactions
Socioeconomic Factors
Stereotyping
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Summary:This paper applies social cognition research to understanding and ameliorating the provider contribution to racial/ethnic disparities in health care. We discuss how fundamental cognitive mechanisms such as automatic, unconscious processes (e.g., stereotyping) can help explain provider bias. Even well‐intentioned providers who are motivated to be nonprejudiced may stereotype racial/ethnic minority members, particularly under conditions of that diminish cognitive capacity. These conditions—time pressure, fatigue, and information overload—are frequently found in health care settings. We conclude with implications of the social‐cognitive perspective for developing interventions to reduce provider bias.
ISSN:0884-8734
1525-1497
DOI:10.1111/j.1525-1497.2004.30227.x