In my previous blog post, I talked about the ongoing issue of bias in healthcare. A quick summary of what I discussed is about how systematic racism has affected people of color's experiences in a patient care setting. I also talked briefly about how hospitals should investigate implementing bias screenings, to help eliminate racial/ethnic bias in healthcare. In this blog post, I'll be talking more about options healthcare facilities can consider when hiring their staff.

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The first suggestion is to have better and more thorough background checks done. In Terry Kaufman's article "Viewpoint: Conduct Careful Background Checks for Racism" he explains that Harry Kazakian, a licensed private investigator with expertise in pre-employment background checks, states that, "Many background checks are done by a lower-cost workforce in another country. These resources are usually unfamiliar with the U.S. legal system and the differences among state laws. They're neither expected to nor set up to invest the time and manpower required to thoroughly review a candidate's social media profile and other communications outlets that are likely to reveal signs of the person's character" (Kaufman, 2). This could be seen as a plus for companies knowing that they don't have to worry about any racial behavioral issues from their employees. At the same time, since the U.S. is built upon being a free country, some people may feel that the extensive background check is a violation of their rights to privacy. If an applicant for a job has differing political views, then the employer could use the background checks to discriminate against them.

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An example of extensive background checks becoming of use is "In 2018, a registered nurse was fired from his job at a hospital in Olive Branch, Miss. after he appeared at a polling place wearing a T-shirt that featured a noose and a Confederate flag. The nurse had previously managed to get two jobs directly dealing with people's lives in the majority Black community. Although no allegations had been raised about mistreatment or endangerment of patients, it is fair to ask how, in this age of social media, his previous employers failed to screen for bigotry during the hiring process"(Kaufman, 3). When using this method, we're only seeing part of the story versus the whole story, regardless of what was posted. Even if thorough background checks are done, the applicant should still be able to be interviewed.

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If companies do decide to implement extensive background checks, this can't be the only step in eliminating racial/ethnic bias. The conversation of diversity and prejudice is necessary for a workplace. the conversations will ensure that the workplace did try to educate its employees. Meaning, that if an employee were to continue to engage in hurtful behavior they can be rightfully fired. The article "Unconscious Bias: How It’s Affecting Your Workplace" by Andari Chisolm-Noel states that, "Unconscious bias (or implicit bias) refers to prejudice that we are unaware of. They happen outside of our control. It is automatic and triggered by our brain making quick decisions. Therefore, it may unexpectedly show up in small ways. One way is assuming an older employee doesn’t want to use the latest technology. In addition, you may presume a younger-looking professional is not the leader of a team"(Chisolm-Noel, 2). While adding that "48% of African American women and 47% of Latina women report being mistaken for administrative or custodial staff. Less than 15% of U.S. men are over 6 feet tall. Yet, 60% of corporate CEOs are at least this height. The taller a man is the more likely he will earn more than a shorter man. Lastly, resumes with African American, Asian, and Hispanic names are less likely to get callbacks for interviews" (Chisolm-Noel, 2). Andari brings up the idea of unconscious bias and how some people cannot control it. I feel that because of the unconscious bias, the extensive background check may not be of use of detecting someone with racial/ethnic bias. In instances where this does occur, companies could have conversations with their staff about diversity and prejudice. Chisolm-Noel ends her article by saying "Changing workplace attitudes and prejudices is possible. It begins with awareness and honest dialog about how they present in our lives and our offices" (Chisolm-Noel, 2). Talking to staff about prejudices that their co-workers face will bring awareness and help change the unconscious biased employee’s feelings.

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When it comes to biases in the world of healthcare, it could go both ways between the patient and doctor. Some patients have expressed their racist concerns of preferring white male doctors, or doctors only really taking care of patients of their preferred race. This has become an issue in our country since many minorities don’t have access to multiple sources of healthcare, and they’re left with a small pool of places to go to. Unfortunately, most of the healthcare bias is thought to be done unconsciously. Given that there is a hidden factor that contributes to healthcare disparities. The specific area of bias in healthcare that I’ll be addressing is, minorities experiencing bias by health care providers in the United States. Black Americans faced several systematic racism/discrimination throughout their lives. The unfortunate part of this is that black Americans can face racism/discrimination in hospitals, care centers, urgent care, etc. The article “It’s Time To Address The Role Of Implicit Bias Within Health Care Delivery” by Shantanu Agrawal & Adaeze Enekwechi, make a statement that “black women in the highest education, income and wealth groups have worse outcomes than white women on the lowest end of the socioeconomic strata” (Agrawal, Enekwechi) when it comes to delivery/child health. A number of White healthcare providers view their Black patients as less intelligent, less able to adhere to treatment regimens, and more likely to engage in risky health behaviors than their White counterparts. Hispanic/Latino/Latina patients are also viewed as unlikely to accept responsibility for their own care and more likely to be noncompliant with treatment recommendations. These speculations could be due to the systematic racism that minorities face and the stereotypes that they face as well when it comes to healthcare. Am J Public Health investigated health care professionals and if they show signs of implicit racial/ethnic bias. The investigation was conducted to pursue the attitudes of healthcare professionals, and how it varied between the patients' ethnic background/race. The investigation showed that healthcare professionals have more of a positive attitude when it comes to White patients, and a negative attitude when it comes to Black, Latinx, or dark-skinned people. The article “Implicit Racial/Ethnic Bias Among Health Care Professionals and It’s Influence on Health Care Outcomes: A Systematic Review” by Am J Public Health concludes that, “Most health care providers appear to have an implicit bias in terms of positive attitudes toward Whites and negative attitudes toward people of color. Future studies need to employ more rigorous methods to examine the relationships between implicit bias and health care outcomes. Interventions targeting implicit attitudes among health care professionals are needed because implicit bias may contribute to health disparities for people of color” (Am J Public Health). The article also stated that, “of the 15 reviewed studies, 14 found evidence of low to moderate levels of implicit bias against people of color among health care professionals. Only 1 study reported no evidence of implicit bias against people of color. Thirteen studies reported that health care professionals were more likely to associate Black Americans with negative words compared with White Americans” (Am J Public Health). Both of these quotes prove the bias of minorities when seeking healthcare. Though there’s no one direct root of the problem, there are a few ways to try and remove the bias. Many of these incidents that occur in healthcare are internally driven. Meaning that the usual root of the problem starts even before the healthcare provider is hired for the job. This could be from on-going racism in the family, discriminatory policies, media representation, and possibly quick judgments. A way to help prevent the number of biased healthcare providers is to implement bias training and in medical school. It may also help to add a bias screening during the healthcare provider's time of practice. This would ensure that the healthcare provider hasn’t changed their mind or started to show signs of bias. The issue of racial/ethnic bias in healthcare is an issue that needs to be taken seriously by hospitals/care centers themselves and give their staff consequences when these instances occur. Tackling the problem head-on is truly the only way it can be brought down. As Rosa Parks once said, "to bring about change, you must not be afraid to take the first step. We will fail when we fail to try".

https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20200108.34515/full/?cookieSet=1

For last and final post on my book, i find the way she ended this more than just touching. Dianne has actually been to hell and back. From her deranged parents, experiencing rape & sex a young age, being apart of someone’s marriage and lastly being apart of the Manson family cult. Witnessing murders that were unfortunately on the cults hands that she was part of. In 3 years Dianna Lake went from being a 14 Cali girl to being 17 bringing down psycho-murderer.

I tend to watch a lot of videos or listen to podcasts even about murders and murderers. Listening/watching people trying to figure how and why these people commit these Heynis crimes is amazing, because in the end we will truly never know.