Corrective Trust: An Effective Way to Destructuralize Biases in Healthcare
Friday, October 13, 2023
9:30 AM – 10:45 AM ET
Location: Laurel AB (Fourth Floor)
Corrective trust occurs when we choose to trust someone because we recognize that our biases may be preventing us from doing so. Corrective trust can be an effective way to overcome biases, including those based on race, gender, age, ability, and more, in healthcare. However, the traditional understanding of trust as a special form of reliance can make it difficult to practice corrective trust. This is because reliance on others can place an extra burden on them, which can be particularly problematic for vulnerable individuals. To address this, I propose a new account of trust that does not include reliance as a necessary condition. Instead, trust is viewed as a complex attitude that includes cognitive, affective, and normative components. This perspective ensures that trust is always a moral good, supports personal autonomy, and does not necessarily require the trusted party to take specific actions.
Healthcare professionals should adopt this new understanding of trust and use corrective trust to overcome biases and discrimination. This involves correctively trusting patients who may have faced discrimination and creating a more equitable and just healthcare system. By practicing corrective trust, healthcare professionals can work to destructuralize biases and provide better care for all patients, regardless of their race, gender, age, ability, or other factors.