Be Heard—We’re Listening: Emerging Issues and Potential Solutions From the Voices of BIPOC Occupational Therapy Students, Practitioners, and Educators

Abstract

A confluence of factors during 2020 placed needed attention on the social and structural determinants of health, systemic racism, and social injustice. Institutions across the country are taking a hard look at themselves to evaluate how they are complicit in perpetuating these problems and what role they have in dismantling them. In this article, we discuss the influence of systemic racism on the profession of occupational therapy, noting that the profession lacks a clear plan, informed by stakeholders, on how to address it. The American Occupational Therapy Association hosted a series of listening sessions titled “Be Heard—We’re Listening” in June and July 2020 to learn about the experiences of occupational therapy students, practitioners, and educators who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). The listening session participants provided ideas for change and recommendations that establish a call to action for persons, groups, and populations.

Who Protects Clinical Learners in Canada? Ethical Considerations for Institutional Policy on Patient Bias

“…Although the experiences of clinical learners in teaching hospitals is a relatively understudied area, the experiences of medical students, residents, and fellows are captured in the wider academic literature (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11). An obvious gap in this scholarship is information about or examination of the experiences of non-physician learners, that is, in other health professions such as nursing, occupational therapy (OT), physical therapy (PT), respiratory therapy, and social work (12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18). This gap applies to the broader literature on the topic, as well as more specifically to academic scholarship on the experiences of health professions learners in Canada.…”

“…A scan of the wider literature reveals some phenomenological accountings in other geographical contexts (2,4,5,9,11,(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30), yet these tend to be narrowly focused. The existing work in this area examines the impact of discrimination on learners (9,(15)(16)(17)(18)22,25,31,32), the differential experience for minoritized learners (2,4,5,9,11,13,15,18), the difficulties in responding to discrimination (3,5,7,8,9,11,15,17,26), barriers to reporting (5,9,14), and the lack of institutional resources and support from clinical supervisors (7,15,18,30,33). We explore the nuances of each of these issu...…”

“…Acts of bias and discrimination from patients have been found to affect learners both physically and psychologically (9,25). This includes experiences of stress, fatigue, emotional distress, and trauma that often lead to decreased job satisfaction, burnout, withdrawal from practice, distracted learning, and an inability to focus on professional development (9,16,17,22,31). The psychological impact of patient bias has been described as "a long-term, well-ingrained sense of humiliation" (16, p.716) that accompanies feelings of fear, uncertainty, rejection, exclusion, and cynicism (9).…”

“…Responding to these instances can be just as difficult as it is to endure them in the moment, particularly for racialized learners. They might feel voiceless in responding to acts of bias or feel that they cannot react in ways that protect their dignity because of the pressure to be perfect and perform at a higher level than their white colleagues (7,8,15,17). It is likely that they also undergo a different level of scrutiny insofar as societal biases inform how trainees are evaluated (38).…”

State of the Journal, 2021

“…AJOT has also been committed to serving as a platform for professional issues related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice. This issue features one such article, titled "Be Heard-We're Listening: Emerging Issues and Potential Solutions From the Voices of BIPOC Occupational Therapy Students, Practitioners, and Educators" (Salvant et al, 2021). Other recent publications include The Issue Is column "Increasing Racial and Ethnic Diversity Within Occupational Therapy Education" (Brown et al, 2021) and the research article "Supporting Occupational Justice of Transgender and Gender Nonconforming People by Wasmuth et al, (2021).…”