Health care professionals (HCPs), regardless of profession, care for people of various racial, ethnic, gender, age, and sexual orientation backgrounds. Many patients who identify with these groups encounter disparities in access to health care, quality of care received, and health outcomes. The attitudes and behaviors of HCPs have been identified in the literature as one of many factors that contribute to health disparities. In particular, unconscious bias can be deeply ingrained and have the potential to influence behavior. Increasing awareness of unconscious bias in a safe and supportive environment enables HCPs to learn and practice conscious efforts to develop new approaches to understanding diversity in the patient population, avoid patterns of preferential treatment, and provide more sensitive care to patients.

This educational activity reviews the definition, dynamics, and attributes of unconscious bias; explores the nature of unconscious biases and how they can affect health outcomes; and examines tools and educational approaches to help HCPs recognize, reflect on, and change unconscious bias to avoid harm to patients.