2015 Fellow

Anurag Gupta

Project Description

The project’s goal is to hack unconscious bias and disrupt racial inequalities. The project will develop an evidence-based online training called Mindfulness Based Cultural Competency™ (MBCC) that will create a measurable reduction in unconscious bias to eliminate health inequalities based on race/ethnicity.

Three decades of robust research has shown that people of color receive lower-quality health care, are subject to less desirable procedures, are routinely undertreated for pain, and receive significantly less preventive care. Such disparities lead to higher rates of disease, disability, and premature deaths. These health inequalities persist even after accounting for education, income, and wealth. In addition, health inequalities based on race/ethnicity cost the U.S. economy $309 billion per year. Unconscious, not explicit, bias is an important cause of these disparities.

Thirty-seven percent of Americans are of color and in 25 years a majority of Americans will be of color. Reducing unconscious bias is imperative to ensure all Americans have access to high quality health care, particularly in light of shifting demographics. The project aims to complement the growing movements of Black Lives Matter, immigration reform, and economic justice by enabling transformation at the intra- and the inter-personal level, particularly among physicians whose decisions affect people’s well-being and life experiences.