Cheryl Woods Giscombe

Thank you so much for a wonderful discussion on such an important topic. I truly hope that our country can move in a better direction so that we can be less judgmental and biased towards people of all races. America is a melting pot and we should therefore treat all people equally.

A thought provoking session. The concept of culturally sensitive as opposed to culturally competent was empowering. Dr Giscombe’s gentle urging to understand why people may have the biases they have, rather than just condemn really resonated with me, as did her anecdote about the interprofessional relationship with her community pharmacist. As a family practitioner, I have a very similar relationship with a pharmacist in my community. Thank you for a talk that reinforces the idea that being humble enough to realise we don’t know (and can never know) everything is the first step towards lifelong learning.

As breathing beings it is human nature to be judgemental. We create the story of every individual we see, meet, pass by on the street based on the senses. It takes seconds. Unconscious bias plays a role in this. What is important is to be mindfully aware of this and make efforts to switch this off in the mind. This takes practice. So to support this challenge, I have begun to approach people with kindness. Listening if they are speaking and demonstrate kindness in action and words. I am still practicing this and at times it isn’t easy but the payoff is great. As a healthcare provider we become intimately involved with our patients, residents or clients moments after meeting them. Kindness goes a long way in helping develop positive relationships and outing both the provider and patient as ease. We can also call this compassion. Love this conversation and grateful for this forum to bring us together.

Super structure to the session. Thanks to both.

Perhaps we need to consider that ‘unconscious’ bias is only unconscious until we make ourselves aware of our own prejudices / beliefs and values – as Cheryl suggests – having some humility and accepting that we are not perfect but would seek to improve means that we take responsibility for challenging ourselves. Perhaps, in response to Elzbieta’s question (above), we need to consider that as professional people our professionalism is about educating and improving ourselves, not awaiting our employer/institution of organisation to provide input – but rather adopting a more self-aware and self-critical view so as to avoid ‘unconscious’ becoming something of a euphemism for self-deception.

Unconscious bias is a polite way of saying “arrogant lack of awareness and willingness to address our own prejudices and bigotry” maybe?

Thank you. This is such an essential aspect of our lives today on so many levels in society.