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Think of this article as the fourth part of an interconnected story in the pages of this magazine.

Battling Bias's Distorted Images

In June 2018, PT in Motion looked at the importance of the profession of physical therapy embracing cultural competence and striving to better mirror in its own composition the ever-increasing diversity of the American population.1

In July of this year, the magazine examined the need for physical therapists (PTs) and physical therapist assistants (PTAs) to consider the role of social determinants of health in their interactions with patients and clients, and in subsequent clinical decisions.2 (The US government defines social determinants of health as "conditions in the environments in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks."3)

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  1. Wojciechowski M. Who are tomorrow's PTs and PTAs? PT in Motion. 2018;10(5):30-41.
  2. Lehmann C. Addressing social determinants of health. PT in Motion. 2019;11(6):28-39.
  3. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Social Determinants of Health. https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/social-determinants-of-health. Accessed July 19, 2019.
  4. Bullen Love D. Recruiting tomorrow's PTs and PTAs. PT in Motion. 2019;11(7):18-25.
  5. The Joint Commission. Implicit Bias in Health Care. www.jointcommission.org/assets/1/23/Quick_Safety_Issue_23_Apr_2016.pdf. Accessed July 17, 2019.
  6. Project Implicit. https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/. Accessed July 17, 2019.
  7. Blair IV, Steiner JF, Havranek EP. Unconscious (implicit) bias and health disparities: where do we do from here? Perm J. 2011;15(2):71-78
  8. Hall WJ, Chapman MV, Lee KM, et al. Implicit racial/ethnic bias among health care professionals and its influence on health care outcomes: a systematic review. Am J Public Health. 2015;105(12)e60-e76.
  9. FitzGerald C, Hurst S. Impicit bias in healthcare professionals: a systematic review. BMC Med Ethics. 2017;18(1):19.
  10. American Physical Therapy Association. 2019-2021 Strategic Plan. http://www.apta.org/StrategicPlan/Plan/. Accessed July 17, 2019.
  11. American Physical Therapy Association. Minority Scholarship Award. http://www.apta.org/HonorsandAwards/Scholarships/MinorityScholarship/. Accessed July 17, 2019.
  12. American Physical Therapy Association. PT in Motion News. APTA-Backed Bill to Provide Diversity-Based Scholarships, Stipends Introduced in House. http://www.apta.org/PTinMotion/News/2019/07/10/WorkforceDiversityActIntroduced/. Accessed July 17, 2019.
  13. Guerrero HG. Sneaky bias: what you don't know may hurt you (and your patients). American Physical Therapy Association #PT Transforms blog. July 20. 2016. http://www.apta.org/Blogs/PTTransforms/2016/7/20/SneakyBias/. Accessed July 17, 2019.
  14. American Physical Therapy Association. Physical Therapy Workforce Data. http://www.apta.org/WorkforceData/. Accessed July 17, 2019.
  15. Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education. Aggregate Program Data, 2018-2019 Physical Therapist Education Programs. http://www.capteonline.org/uploadedFiles/CAPTEorg/About_CAPTE/Resources/Aggregate_Program_Data/AggregateProgramData_PTPrograms.pdf. Accessed July 17, 2019.
  16. Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education. Aggregate Program Data, 2018-2019 Physical Therapist Assistant Education Programs. http://www.capteonline.org/uploadedFiles/CAPTEorg/About_CAPTE/Resources/Aggregate_Program_Data/AggregateProgramData_PTAPrograms.pdf. Accessed July 17, 2019.
  17. American Council of Academic Physical Therapy. Report of Diversity Task Force, January 4, 2016. https://acapt.org/docs/default-source/reports/diversity-task-force-final-report.pdf?sfvrsn=6249b3d8_2. Accessed July 17, 2019.

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