Gavaza Paul, Rawal Bhaktidevi M, Flynn Patricia
Loma Linda University School of Pharmacy, 24745 Stewart Street, Loma Linda, CA 92350, United States.
Department of Psychology, Loma Linda University School of Behavioral Health, Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, Loma Linda, CA 92350, United States.
Curr Pharm Teach Learn. 2023 Jan;15(1):43-51. doi: 10.1016/j.cptl.2023.02.006. Epub 2023 Mar 11.
Implicit biases can contribute to unfair treatment in healthcare and exacerbate healthcare disparities. Little is known about the implicit biases that exist within pharmacy practice and their behavioral manifestations. The purpose of this study was to explore pharmacy student perspectives about implicit bias in pharmacy practice.
Sixty-two second-year pharmacy students attended a lecture on implicit bias in healthcare and engaged in an assignment designed to explore their thoughts about how implicit bias manifests or may manifest within pharmacy practice. Students' qualitative responses were content analyzed.
Students reported several examples in which implicit bias may emerge in pharmacy practice. Various forms of potential bias were identified including bias associated with patients' race, ethnicity, and culture, insurance/financial status, weight, age, religion, physical appearance and language, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning and gender identity, and prescriptions filled. Students identified several potential implications of implicit bias in pharmacy practice including unwelcoming non-verbal behavior on the part of providers, differences in time devoted to interacting with patients, differences in empathy and respect, inadequate counseling, and (un)willingness to provide services. Students also identified factors that could precipitate biased behaviors such as fatigue, stress, burnout, and multiple demands.
Pharmacy students believed that implicit biases manifested in many different ways and were potentially associated with behaviors that resulted in unequal treatment in pharmacy practice. Future studies should explore the effectiveness of implicit bias trainings on reducing the behavioral implications of bias in pharmacy practice.
隐性偏见会导致医疗保健中的不公平待遇，并加剧医疗保健差距。对于药学实践中存在的隐性偏见及其行为表现，人们知之甚少。本研究的目的是探讨药学专业学生对药学实践中隐性偏见的看法。
62名二年级药学专业学生参加了一场关于医疗保健中隐性偏见的讲座，并参与了一项旨在探索他们对隐性偏见在药学实践中如何表现或可能表现的想法的作业。对学生的定性回答进行了内容分析。
学生们报告了几个隐性偏见可能在药学实践中出现的例子。识别出了各种潜在的偏见形式，包括与患者的种族、民族和文化、保险/财务状况、体重、年龄、宗教、外貌和语言、女同性恋、男同性恋、双性恋、跨性别者、酷儿/疑问者和性别认同以及所配处方相关的偏见。学生们确定了药学实践中隐性偏见的几个潜在影响，包括提供者不友好的非语言行为、与患者互动所花费时间的差异、同理心和尊重的差异、咨询不足以及提供服务的（不）意愿。学生们还确定了可能引发偏见行为的因素，如疲劳、压力、倦怠和多重需求。
药学专业学生认为隐性偏见以多种不同方式表现出来，并可能与导致药学实践中不平等对待的行为相关。未来的研究应探讨隐性偏见培训在减少药学实践中偏见行为影响方面的有效性。
