PURPOSE
Health equity remains a critical challenge in medical education and
clinical practice, particularly for vulnerable, marginalized, and
under-resourced populations. Traditional training often lacks tools to assess
clinician perspectives on equity and to foster humanized approaches to care.
The purpose of this study was to design and validate a novel instrument to
measure clinician perceptions of health equity and to implement it following
interactive workshops aimed at advancing equitable, patient-centered care.
METHODS
To date, no tool exists to evaluate healthcare provider perceptions of
health equity. Therefore, we created and validated a tool to collect data on
clinician perceptions of health equity. The tool was delivered post-workshop
and at community health sites to collect quantitative and qualitative data.
To humanize the health experiences of disadvantaged populations, each
workshop incorporated 4 case studies.
RESULTS
As part of our presentation, we will share the health equity tool, workshop
materials, and evaluation of data. Overwhelmingly, workshop participants
gained an understanding of health disparities in their communities and
engaged in inclusive communication. Findings indicate that participants
demonstrated increased awareness of health disparities and actively engaged
in discussions about inclusive care. Quantitative analysis showed differences
in equity perceptions across health professions.
CONCLUSION
The workshops on health equity engaged learners to discuss the impact of
health disparities on patient outcomes. Study data shows that health
providers in diverse communities share congruent perceptions of health equity
with some variations in training.