• Home
  • About
  • Sessions
  • CE Credits
  • Registration
  • Contact Us
Planetree International Language of Caring

Pathway to Person-centered Health Encounters:

Reducing Bias and Disparities in Healthcare

Pathway to Person-centered Health Encounters: Reducing Bias and Disparities in Healthcare

Monthly virtual series | April – October

Session details

Past sessions

Oct. 13  View a recording of this session. | Slides | Self-reflective journal

A Person-centered Healthcare Encounter

This session will bring together the concepts of person-centered care as a potential solution to bias. Participants will be challenged to identify processes, policies and other organizational attributes that create unintentional bias.

Learning Objectives

  • Describe how to design and implement a person-centered care encounter.
  • Demonstrate how to use person-centered communication techniques to reduce bias and judgment while increasing compassion and empathy.
  • Identify how a person-centered healthcare encounter can assist in addressing the social determinants of health.

Sep. 8  View a recording of this session. | Slides | Self-reflective journal

Indigenous Persons and Refugee Bias

Participants will discover how individuals seeking refuge and Indigenous people experience bias through an array of stereotypes, generalizations and the formation of caste systems.

Learning Objectives

  • Reveiw the history of othering as it relates to Indigenous people and the impact to healthcare.
  • Describe how bias towards refugees and immigrants negatively impacts the healthcare of individuals and family units.
  • Explain the intersection of Indigenous people, refugees and social determinants of health.

Aug. 11  View a recording of this session. | Slides | Self-reflective journal

Systemic Racism

This session will explore how race-related implicit bias impacts the care experience. Patient testimonials will emphasize the real impact of bias on care. Additionally, this session will demonstrate that systemic racism is not a thing of the past, but a present-day experience for many people of color.

Learning Objectives

  • Recognize historic milestones that have created and sustained racism in healthcare for persons of color.
  • Describe how the function of systemic bias continues today in the care and vaccination of individuals of color through the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Explain the intersection of systemic racism and social determinants of health.

July 14   View a recording of this session. | Slides | Self-reflective journal

Behavioral Health and Cognitive Impairment

People living with mental health challenges often feel judged or shamed. A cognitive impairment and/or dementia diagnosis may leave a person feeling silenced, leading to a lack of partnership in care. This session will guide participants to understand these biases and how they impact an individual’s healthcare experience.

Learning Objectives

  • Demonstrate how to create a safe space in healthcare encounters for individuals with a behavioral health diagnosis.
  • Describe ways to communicate and partner with individuals living with cognitive impairment and/or dementia.
  • Explain the intersection of behavioral health, cognitive impairment and social determinants of health.

June 9  View a recording of this session. | Slides | Self-reflective journal

Gender and Sexism

Gender identification and expression are deeply personal. This session will challenge participants’ perception of gender and how it intersects with binary sexism.

Learning Objectives

  • Compare current gender identification definitions.
  • Discuss how gender identification and sexism bias present themselves in healthcare.
  • Explain the intersection of gender, sexism and social determinants of health.

May 12  View a recording of this session. | Slides | Self-reflective journal

Age and Ability (or Ageism and Ableism)

This session addresses age bias which, while traditionally attached to older adults, also exists at the other end of the age spectrum. Emphasis will be placed on the ways in which the media and society reinforce stereotypes of age and ability.

Learning Objectives

  • Identify examples of ableism in healthcare.
  • Identify ageism in the media and its influence on healthcare.
  • Explain the intersection of ableism, ageism and social determinants of health.

April 14  View a recording of this session. | Slides | Self-Reflective Journal

The Language of Bias

This session provides a broad overview of implicit and explicit bias in the healthcare system. Attention will be paid to the vocabulary and statistics of bias, as well as the intersection of person-centered care to help resolve bias.

Learning Objectives

  • Identify the difference between implicit and explicit bias.
  • Review the social determinants of health.
  • Explain the relationship between bias and social determinants of health.

Download flyer

Pathway drop-in sessions

Drop-in sessions are informal meetings for you to ask questions and discuss session content.

  • May 26 | 11 a.m. – noon
  • Jul. 28 | 11 a.m. – noon
  • Sept. 22 | 11 a.m. – noon

Registration is required for these sessions.

© 2025 Healthcare Association of New York State, Inc.