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Thesis Defence: Healthcare Practitioners’ Intersectional Biases Towards Type 2 Diabetes and Indigenous Populations
August 14 at 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Renee Young, supervised by Dr. Mary Jung, will defend their thesis titled “Healthcare Practitioners’ Intersectional Biases Towards Type 2 Diabetes and Indigenous Populations” in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Health and Exercise Sciences.
An abstract for Renee Young’s thesis is included below.
Defences are open to all members of the campus community as well as the general public. Registration is not required for in person defences.
ABSTRACT
Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) affects 9% of Canadians. With the inclusion of individuals living with undiagnosed T2D or pre-diabetes this value rises to 30% (Diabetes Canada, 2023). Indigenous Peoples in Canada have higher T2D incidence and poorer outcomes compared to non-Indigenous individuals (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2022). Implicit and explicit biases towards Indigenous Peoples and people with T2D in healthcare have been documented (Bennett & Puhl, 2023; Roach et al., 2023), impacting the quality of care they receive (Allan & Smylie, 2015; Holmes-Truscott et al., 2018). This study evaluated biases of 79 healthcare practitioners (HCPs) in the Interior Health Region of British Columbia (BC) towards Indigenous Peoples in Canada and their explicit attitudes towards people with T2D. Explicit bias was assessed using the Attitudes about Treating People with Diabetes Scale and the Modern Prejudice Attitudes Towards Aboriginals Scale. Implicit bias was assessed using the Indigenous Peoples in Canada Implicit Association Test. Perceived enablers and disrupters to discriminatory behaviour in healthcare were assessed by open-ended questions, and thematically coded using the Theoretical Domains Framework. Results of implicit bias assessment showed 44.8% of respondents had slight to strong pro-European preference. Knowledge and education were identified as both enablers and disrupters of discriminatory behaviour, with impacts of colonization emerging as a major theme for enablers of this behaviour. Social influences were highlighted as a key domain for both enablers and disrupters of discriminatory attitudes. This study suggests that negative attitudes towards Indigenous Peoples and T2D persist among Interior Health region of BC HCPs. Anti-bias training should focus on increasing knowledge, addressing impacts of colonization, and shifting social dynamics within healthcare.
