Cliff Coleman, MD, MPH
Oregon Health & Science University
Low baseline health literacy disproportionately affects communities of color. This includes 58% Black Americans, 66% Hispanic Americans, and 48% American Indian/ Alaska Natives. We can compare this to 31% and 28% of Asian and White Americans, respectively. Schools of the health professions have not adequately incorporated health literacy and clear communication into their curricula. This system-wide failure contributes significantly to systemic racism in healthcare, yet has received little attention from health literacy advocates. This talk spotlights health information inequities, and provides a vision for an anti-racist approach to communications training in schools of the health professions.
Objectives:
-Define systemic racism.
-Discuss ways that failing to improve communication contributes to systemic racism
-Identify opportunities for employing anti-racist approaches to one’s health literacy work.
Oregon Health & Science University
Low baseline health literacy disproportionately affects communities of color. This includes 58% Black Americans, 66% Hispanic Americans, and 48% American Indian/ Alaska Natives. We can compare this to 31% and 28% of Asian and White Americans, respectively. Schools of the health professions have not adequately incorporated health literacy and clear communication into their curricula. This system-wide failure contributes significantly to systemic racism in healthcare, yet has received little attention from health literacy advocates. This talk spotlights health information inequities, and provides a vision for an anti-racist approach to communications training in schools of the health professions.
Objectives:
-Define systemic racism.
-Discuss ways that failing to improve communication contributes to systemic racism
-Identify opportunities for employing anti-racist approaches to one’s health literacy work.