Using Theater Gaming to Foster Perspective-Taking and Mitigate Bias Among Trauma Providers

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Health Equity
• Trauma Care Research

Background:

• Implicit biases and color blindness attitudes among healthcare providers negatively impact marginalized trauma patients.
• Effective educational strategies to mitigate bias in trauma care professionals are understudied.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of "A Brain Game: Deconstructing Bias" intervention.
• Assessed impact on perspective-taking and color blindness attitudes in trauma care professionals.

Main Methods:

• Single-center, prospective cohort survey study.
• Recruited diverse trauma system professionals using snowball sampling.
• Assessed perspective-taking, color blindness attitudes, and bias consideration pre- and post-intervention.

Main Results:

• Significant increases in perspective-taking (p < .001) and understanding of social constructs (p < .001).
• Significant decreases in color blindness (p = .049) and unawareness of institutional racism (p = .020).
• 82.8% expressed willingness to consider biases before patient interactions.

Conclusions:

• The "Brain Game" intervention shows promise in improving trauma professionals' bias awareness and perspective-taking.
• Feasible but requires further research due to moderate completion rates and single-center design.