Dismantling Discrimination in Healthcare Research and Practice Through Human Factors Approaches

The discipline of human factors and ergonomics (HFE) has demonstrated the utility of human factors approaches in improving safety outcomes for both patients and healthcare professionals. However, many patients and health professionals continue to face discrimination in both health research and practice. This panel aims to promote positive outcomes through the design of just health systems by first dismantling discrimination in HFE-related health research and health practice. Toward this objective, expert panelists in HFE will present on topics spanning medical equipment design, concrete strategies to dismantle bias in HFE-related health research design, human factors approaches to characterize racial/ethnic disparities in maternal care, and system contributors to psychological harm of transgender and non-binary people. After, we will hold a moderated discussion about the challenges, opportunities, and responsibilities of HFE practitioners to design healthcare and health research that improves patient outcomes for all and expands who can be a health professional.