Ideals - Health Equity Resources

Implicit Bias refers to attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner.

Psychologists at Harvard, the University of Virginia and the University of Washington created "Project Implicit" to develop Hidden Bias Tests—called Implicit Association Tests, or IATs—to measure unconscious association. Multiple tests are available for self-assessment.

Project Implicit Health - What are your automatic reactions when you think about anxiety, depression, alcohol, exercise, eating, or persons with mental illness? Take about 15 minutes now to to discover your automatic reactions to a range of physical and mental health topics or view some of our research findings on implicit attitudes and health. If you find the tasks interesting, you may enjoy registering for research at Project Implicit to gain access to dozens of studies and tests on a wide variety of topics.

Background on the IAT:

Greenwald, A., T. Poehlman et al. (2009). Understanding the Implicit Association Test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97, No 1, 17-41.

The seminal paper that first described the IAT as a tool to measure evaluative associations that underlie implicit attitudes.

Rosin, H, Spiegel, A. (Hosts). (2017, June 8). Invisibilia: The Culture Inside [Audio podcast]

Hour long NPR podcast that provides overview of IAT, implicit bias, as well as how to combat the effects of bias.

Implicit Bias Module Series

From the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at The Ohio State University.

Introduces insights into how the mind operates; helps understand the origins of implicit associations.  Uncover some of your own biases and learn strategies for addressing them.  Each module is divided into a short series of lessons, taking ~ 10 minutes to complete.

DEI Shift [Audio podcast]

Addressing Bias Through Mitigation: A Toolkit for medical educators in UME, GME, and Faculty Development. Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine

Chapman, E. N., Kaatz, A., Carnes, M. (2013). Physicians and implicit bias: How doctors may unwittingly perpetuate health care disparities. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 28,1504–1510.

Perspective piece that discusses the importance of physicians acknowledging their own susceptibility to implicit bias, and he importance of taking part in mitigation strategies when providing patient care.

Perdomo, J., et al. (2019). Health Equity Rounds: An Interdisciplinary Case Conference to Address Implicit Bias and Structural Racism for Faculty and Trainees. MedEdPORTAL. DOI:10.15766/mep_2374-8265.10858

A longitudinal case conference curriculum called Health Equity Rounds (HER) - developed to discuss and address the impact of structural racism and implicit bias on patient care. The curriculum engages participants across training levels and disciplines on these topics utilizing case-based discussion, evidence-based exercises, and two relevant conceptual frameworks.  Slide deck for curriculum included in Appendices.

Sherman MD, Ricco J, Nelson SC, Nezhad SJ, Prasad S. Implicit Bias Training in a Residency Program: Aiming for Enduring Effects. Fam Med. 2019;51(8):677-681. https://doi.org/10.22454/FamMed.2019.947255.

Teal, C.R., Gill, A.C., Green, A.R. and Crandall, S. (2012), Helping medical learners recognise and manage unconscious bias toward certain patient groups. Medical Education, 46: 80-88.

If you have experienced a racist or bias incident at the University of Utah, you can report it.