Providing a Positive Impact on Health Equity in Pediatric Medicine (S3:E57)

Across our organization, Children’s Hospital Colorado team members have engaged in dialogue about the origins of systemic racism, the targeted injustices that continue in Black communities and the ways our social structures produce disparities in education, housing, economics and health. We’re also trying to better understand how these issues affect pediatrics.

Listen to pediatric experts discuss health equity in pediatric medicine

In this episode, we talk about the opportunity our pediatric provider community has in turning the passion in these conversations into progress by making a positive impact on health equity in pediatric medicine. In this moment, it is necessary for us all to demonstrate clarity, courage and fortitude to address these long-standing injustices.

Today our guest is Brandi Freeman, MD. Dr. Freeman is a pediatrician at the Children’s Colorado Child Health Clinic and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. She is an advocate for Diversity and Inclusion in the health professions workforce.

In this episode, our experts discuss:

• How we can help to improve health equity in pediatric medicine
• The importance of providing educational opportunities to children of all backgrounds and the impact pediatricians can make
• Encouraging children of all backgrounds from a young age to enter the healthcare field so there is more diversity in the field, especially among physicians
• Taking regular opportunities to support and encourage children at a young age during their appointments
• Allowing students to shadow pediatricians in the healthcare setting so they can learn more about the healthcare profession
• Early childhood interventions that can help children reach their maximum potential
• How to remove barriers that prevent healthcare providers from contributing to health equity
• The role that implicit and unconscious bias plays in health inequities and the importance of being aware of our own biases
• Using slow thinking versus fast thinking to be more aware of our own biases and thinking about how to mediate them before interacting with patients
• How pediatricians can advocate at a local or national level for kids from different backgrounds
• How to check in with patients who are living in communities with unrest or anger