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This episode is part 2 of our Racism in Healthcare series. Listen now to Racism in Healthcare Part 1 discussing the reactions to JAMA’s tweet.
On Part 2, Rupal Patel, Steph Long, Mark Milligan, and Chris Barnes are physical therapists who challenge our profession, our society, and our world on racism and DEI.
Chris opens with updates and changes since JAMA’s tweet and podcast release and explains how there is room to continue taking action. He explains the individual act of ignoring a systemic problem is that individual act of racism.
As a professor in the school of Physical Therapy at Texas Woman’s University, Rupal provided ways to contact legislators to increase the voices of her students on current federal bills in Congress which can impact health outcomes for patients. Those include:
- The Improving Social Determinants of Health Act of 2021(S. 104/H.R. 379)
- Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization of 2021 (H.R. 1620)
- George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021 (H.R. 1280)
- For the People Act of 2021 (H.R. 1)
Listen to the NEJM podcast Rupal assigned to her students which states our health outcomes are worse in the United States due to structural racism.
Mark unveils the intentional and unintentional racism there is in healthcare and how this creeps into the creation of technology. He challenges physical therapists to not only make change at the macro level in government but at the micro level in your community. This is critical to why zipcode matters and comparing location to health outcomes in the population.
Steph concludes this episode pushing for physical therapists to step up and be autonomous to fight against racism in our workplaces and community. She emphasizes there is no time like the present to be the role model to change racism for our next generation.
The panel elevated the topic of intersectionality defining it as a way to connect all humans. Listen to this TEDtalk on the Urgency of Intersectionality.
Check out Stat News article re-racking this issue discussing JAMA’s opinion towards racism in healthcare. Also, this twitter thread gives another perspective and reaction towards JAMA.
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PARTING SHOT – Next Steps
59:43 If you care then do something, anything… Be honest with yourself and decide whether you care.” – Chris Barnes
1:01:18 “As individuals, partnering with communities of color, communities with a lot of health disparities and racism that has impacted health and to change something there. It’s a big lift and it’s not something you can do alone.” – Rupal Patel
1:02:00 “I’d rather regret something I did then regret not doing something.” – Rupal Patel
1:03:39 “Do some self reflection in light of your bias, family of origin, and past racism.” – Mark Milligan
1:06:30 “Advocate. You need to get a voice and get involved with APTA. There is so much diversity on the state level.” – Steph Long