New Book Demonstrates How to Recognize and Eliminate Microaggressions in Healthcare

A collection of case narratives explore health equity in healthcare workplaces in a new book,"Racism, Microaggressions, and Allyship in Health Care: A Narrative Approach to Learning."

Ifeolorunbode (Bode) Adebambo, MD, Interim Chair of MetroHealth's Department of Family Medicine; and Adam Perzynski, PhD, a sociologist at MetroHealth's Population Health Equity Research Institute and the Center for Health Care Research and Policy, are the editors of the book, which examines the different ways in which racism manifests in society.

The book explores microaggressions in a healthcare environment - healthcare providers against patients and vice versa; among healthcare providers, colleagues and other staff - and how they present (verbal or non-verbal behavior, in educational curricula, etc.). It also examines allyship - its meaning, controversy and difficulty.

For years, Dr. Adebambo, Associate Professor at the Case Western Reserve University (Case Western Reserve) School of Medicine, and Dr. Perzynski, a Professor of Medicine and Sociology at Case Western Reserve, have taught workshops on health disparities and collaborated on a book on the topic.

The workshops prompted students and colleagues to share their experiences with racism in the healthcare environment. Confident that they had the beginnings of another book, Dr. Adebambo and Dr. Perzynski applied for, and received, a small grant from Case Western Reserve to put together a book proposal.

After winnowing down the number of abstracts submitted by people who wanted to share their story in book chapter form, the two compiled the case narratives.

The book is an edited collection of personal experiences and strategies shared by dozens of doctors, nurses, trainees and other health care workers from Northeast Ohio and across the country. MetroHealth President and CEO Christine Alexander-Rager, MD, is among the nearly 50 contributors.

Dr. Adebambo and Dr. Perzynski also shared their own personal stories in the book.

"There are things that I have personally experienced or things other people have shared with me," Dr. Adebambo said. "I really wanted to get their stories out there. I wanted to validate what they were feeling and channel it into something that is positive and productive and will be helpful to others."

Each of the cases in the book sheds light on how even small negative interactions can be opportunities for learning, growth and improvement. The book also includes a chapter filled with lessons and reflections from the lifelong experiences of several health care executives from racial and ethnic minority groups.

Chapters on "Discrimination," "Silent Suffering: The Plight of Foreign Doctors in the Workplace," "Pronouns," "Identity," "Patriarchal Culture" and "Team Dynamics" give voice to adverse experiences and include thoughtful questions for reflection from Dr. Adebambo and Dr. Perzynski. Discussions written by Dr. Adebambo and several contributors after each narrative chapter are springboards to begin exploring individual reactions and effective local solutions.

"Racism, Microaggressions, and Allyship in Health Care: A Narrative Approach to Learning" is an important educational resource for teachers, undergraduates, graduate students, residents, fellows and postgraduate trainees in medicine, nursing, population health, related fields such as sociology and social work.

"Many people have told us of the need for a book like this so there's a way to talk about these hard topics with our learners," said Dr. Perzynski. Hospitals and health systems also can use the book as a resource as part of their employee training programs.

"Racism, Microaggressions, and Allyship in Health Care: A Narrative Approach to Learning," was published by Springer Nature Switzerland AG, Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland. It is available wherever books are sold, including via the publisherand on Amazon.

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