Part 3 - Why It Is So Hard To Change
Part 3 - Why It Is So Hard To Change

When we think of basic behavior patterning we think of classical vs. operant conditioning [1]. In 1904 Ivan Pavlov won the Nobel prize in Physiology [2] for his experiments of classical conditioning. In his experiments, he trained a reflex behavior, salivating to food in dogs to salivating to a bell (instead of to food), thereby re-routing a reflex behavior through conditioning. Operant conditioning is a term coined in 1937 by B.F. Skinner to describe conditioning voluntary behavior change based on punishment or reward (consequences) [3]…

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Health EquityShay StraussBrown EmergencyHealth Equity, Institutional IsmsComment
Part 2 - Individual Bias vs Institutionalized “-isms”
Part 2 - Individual Bias vs Institutionalized “-isms”

Historically bias was a synonym of preference. In psychology and anthropology bias is defined as an inherited preference or learned preference. For example, an inherited dislike of bitter foods. In this way, bias is seen as a conserved evolutionary trait because of how it connoted a survival benefit…

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Public Health, Health EquityShay StraussInstitutional Isms, Health Disparities, Health Equity, Public HealthComment
Part 1: “-Isms” and Intersectionality
Part 1: “-Isms” and Intersectionality

The CDC definition of health disparities acknowledges the role of “-isms” as significant contributing factors of inequities. Some examples of pervasive toxic “-isms” include: racism, sexism, ageism, ableism, heterosexism (i.e., homophobia), classism, sizeism, and antisemitism. “-isms” are the behavioral manifestation of bias, conscious or unconscious, that reinforce oppression and inequities in our culture. 

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Health EquityShay StraussHealth Disparities, Institutional IsmsComment