As the conversation around health equity grows louder, it is imperative to understand the unique challenges patients face and explore actionable solutions to bridge the gap.
We recently shared best practices for building a foundation for equitable initiatives through learning and understanding. While awareness and knowledge are essential, meaningful change requires taking concrete actions to meet individuals’ and communities’ needs. Below are actionable strategies focused on providing accessible and equitable patient care.
Commit to Ongoing Professional Development
As the field of health care evolves, providers must do the same. A consistent commitment to quality professional development opens the door for a more effective, culturally responsive care approach for patients.
Culturally focused training, conferences, and courses provide valuable insights into different backgrounds, offering up-to-date information on relevant topics like cultural humility, appropriate terminology and language use, and ethics. Pursuing training that challenges your thinking offers opportunities for growth within the patient care that you’re providing. This training may not always come from “professional” or “traditional” sources. Sometimes the best education comes from people outside of your field who are actively working with the communities served.
“Providers should look for opportunities that continue self-reflection after the training experience is over and intentionally integrate these new ways or being and knowing into the culture of their practice or clinic,” said Karena Heyward, Ph.D., LPC, ACS, VTMHI Clinical Supervisor and Head to Heart LLC Counselor & Consultant.
Beyond formal training, engaging with the communities you serve by building relationships with community leaders or participating in local organizations shows commitment to patients you’re serving and gives you direct insight into your patients’ lived experiences.
Connect and Collaborate with Professionals in the Field
Building a network of professional peers offers benefits that can help effectively shape your individual patient approaches. Surrounding yourself with professionals that challenge your way of thinking promotes empathy and open-mindedness. Your peers can often provide perspectives on challenging subjects that you may not have originally considered. Our biases are often hard to see. Having a network of peers opens the possibility to be held accountable for any biases that we may be projected on to patients.
“I have a small team of people who think differently about therapy and the world. I can run things by them and get different perspectives on the work that I’m doing,” Heyward said.
As you continue to grow your professional circle and share professional experiences, the ability to connect with and understand patients across all cultural backgrounds may improve.
Commit to the Holistic Well-Being of Your Patient
Commitment to the holistic well-being of your patients means extending care beyond sessions and advocating for them and their needs. It means considering their greater situation and how that impacts their mental health and overall well-being.
If a patient’s basic needs like housing or transportation are not being met outside of your office or a virtual session, then health care services can only go so far.
“If you walk into a session with a patient who’s about to lose their home, and we’re talking about coping strategies for their anxiety, those strategies may be able to get them through an hour, 20 minutes, or a couple of days, but the bigger picture for them is ‘I may not have a home tomorrow,’ Heyward said. “As clinicians, we have to think about other resources to connect our patients to. If those resources don’t exist in your community, then we need to advocate for them.”
Committing to this approach also helps establish trust between providers and patients and lays the groundwork for more effective mental health treatment. Health care is often siloed, taking a pinpointed view of the patient based on our expertise. Using a holistic approach ensures that patients feel that providers understand the fullness of their experience in the world.
Create a Safe Environment for Each Patient
Patient and provider relationships must be rooted in trust and safety. Start by building rapport and getting to know the patient outside of their presenting concerns. Sharing relevant, personal information can help strengthen the connection and encourage patients to share their own experiences.
Providers are also responsible for using sensitivity in their language and knowing about the ever-changing appropriate terms to use regarding race, gender, and other ways individuals identify themselves.
“We have to continually make sure that our patients are feeling safe in our presence and in the counseling environment, even if that’s virtually. Ultimately, the goal is to create a safe space where patients feel supported and empowered to commit to their healing journey.”
The path to equity is ongoing, but with deliberate effort and a focus on empathy and respect, we can make significant strides in closing the gap and ensuring that health care is truly accessible and effective for all.