© 2008 American Academy of Physician Assistants. All rights reserved.
HEADS UP! PROJECT DESCRIPTION
In November of 2007, the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) launched “Heads Up!,” an innovative
awareness campaign aimed at reducing racial and ethnic disparities in health care. For three months, signage
addressing the issue of health care disparities was placed on University of Washington Health Sciences Express
shuttle buses. The buses are used by thousands of medical and health care workers who travel daily between
Seattle's University of Washington School of Medicine and its teaching partner institution, Harborview Medical
Center.
According to physician assistant Jim Anderson, outgoing chair of AAPA’s Committee on Diversity, the project is
among the first to address new evidence about the role of unconscious racial stereotyping in racial health
disparities. “In 2007, Alexander Green, M.D., of the Disparities Solutions Center at Massachusetts General,
released a study that connects implicit and unconscious stereotyping with unequal treatment of patients. It was
one of the first studies to connect the dots on this issue,” said Anderson. Green and the Disparities Solutions
Center provided consultation and input on the awareness campaign.
The campaign consists of three bus signs, each of which addresses a different health disparities issue. The signs
were displayed on a rotating basis for one month over a 90-day period. One sign featured photos of two males,
one Caucasian and one African American, with the words: Chest Pain, Identical Symptoms, Matching Histories:
Which Patient Doesn't Get the Appropriate Tests? This refers to data showing that patients of color are referred
less frequently for advanced testing than are white patients for similar cardiovascular problems.
Anderson also noted that recent writings about the issue of stereotyping and disparities in care offer some novel
suggestions for ways to address and decrease these problems. The awareness campaign uses some of those
techniques. “Diana Burgess and Michelle Van Ryn of the University of Minnesota proposed an intervention called
priming. That's what this project does, it puts basic information about unequal treatment before clinicians and
allied health providers and presupposes that racial gaps in care are based on unconscious stereotyping, not on
conscious efforts,” explained Anderson. “We know that, as health care professionals, we all want the best for
patients, but we also know that we have to make complex decisions in a short period of time. Unconscious
stereotyping fills in the gaps and allows us to make these complex decisions quickly. Unfortunately, the
stereotypes we all carry can lead to unequal treatment.”
The project will continue as part of the ongoing efforts by the AAPA to address and reduce racial and other
cultural health disparities. The website has recently added two tabs, “CME” and “Use This Project.” Efforts are
underway to create approved CME on the site, where AAPA members and others can review information and
research about the issues of racial disparities and unconscious stereotyping, and take a CME test. Currently at
the CME page three references are listed, followed by a prototype of the test. While it is not yet approved for
CME, the references and test provide a tool ready for use by PA programs.
The “Use This Project” tab also describes several ways this project can be accessed and used by an interested
professional organization or individual.
Please contact Jim Anderson PA-C, at j.eddy.Anderson@gmail.com, for further information about this project, and
how you can use it in your setting or organization.
The AAPA is the only national organization to represent physician assistants in all medical and surgical specialties.
Founded in 1968, the Academy works to promote quality, cost-effective health care and the professional and
personal growth of PAs. For more information about the Academy and the PA profession, visit AAPA’s Web site,
www.aapa.org.
In November of 2007, the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) launched “Heads Up!,” an innovative
awareness campaign aimed at reducing racial and ethnic disparities in health care. For three months, signage
addressing the issue of health care disparities was placed on University of Washington Health Sciences Express
shuttle buses. The buses are used by thousands of medical and health care workers who travel daily between
Seattle's University of Washington School of Medicine and its teaching partner institution, Harborview Medical
Center.
According to physician assistant Jim Anderson, outgoing chair of AAPA’s Committee on Diversity, the project is
among the first to address new evidence about the role of unconscious racial stereotyping in racial health
disparities. “In 2007, Alexander Green, M.D., of the Disparities Solutions Center at Massachusetts General,
released a study that connects implicit and unconscious stereotyping with unequal treatment of patients. It was
one of the first studies to connect the dots on this issue,” said Anderson. Green and the Disparities Solutions
Center provided consultation and input on the awareness campaign.
The campaign consists of three bus signs, each of which addresses a different health disparities issue. The signs
were displayed on a rotating basis for one month over a 90-day period. One sign featured photos of two males,
one Caucasian and one African American, with the words: Chest Pain, Identical Symptoms, Matching Histories:
Which Patient Doesn't Get the Appropriate Tests? This refers to data showing that patients of color are referred
less frequently for advanced testing than are white patients for similar cardiovascular problems.
Anderson also noted that recent writings about the issue of stereotyping and disparities in care offer some novel
suggestions for ways to address and decrease these problems. The awareness campaign uses some of those
techniques. “Diana Burgess and Michelle Van Ryn of the University of Minnesota proposed an intervention called
priming. That's what this project does, it puts basic information about unequal treatment before clinicians and
allied health providers and presupposes that racial gaps in care are based on unconscious stereotyping, not on
conscious efforts,” explained Anderson. “We know that, as health care professionals, we all want the best for
patients, but we also know that we have to make complex decisions in a short period of time. Unconscious
stereotyping fills in the gaps and allows us to make these complex decisions quickly. Unfortunately, the
stereotypes we all carry can lead to unequal treatment.”
The project will continue as part of the ongoing efforts by the AAPA to address and reduce racial and other
cultural health disparities. The website has recently added two tabs, “CME” and “Use This Project.” Efforts are
underway to create approved CME on the site, where AAPA members and others can review information and
research about the issues of racial disparities and unconscious stereotyping, and take a CME test. Currently at
the CME page three references are listed, followed by a prototype of the test. While it is not yet approved for
CME, the references and test provide a tool ready for use by PA programs.
The “Use This Project” tab also describes several ways this project can be accessed and used by an interested
professional organization or individual.
Please contact Jim Anderson PA-C, at j.eddy.Anderson@gmail.com, for further information about this project, and
how you can use it in your setting or organization.
The AAPA is the only national organization to represent physician assistants in all medical and surgical specialties.
Founded in 1968, the Academy works to promote quality, cost-effective health care and the professional and
personal growth of PAs. For more information about the Academy and the PA profession, visit AAPA’s Web site,
www.aapa.org.
WHAT IS THIS?
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| A Health Disparities Reduction Project of the American Academy of Physician Assistants and the Physician Assistant Foundation |
Heads Up!