Acknowledging Personal Bias and Experience

Before we delve into the project’s primary content, I must acknowledge my personal experience with the issue at hand and the possible biases that accompany it. Weight bias in healthcare is a complication I have faced for most of my life and continue to face today. I understand the challenges it brings and the toll it takes on one’s health. I have been misdiagnosed, dismissed and have had to resist biased care at almost every single medical appointment I have had.

Additionally, I have taken part in plenty of debates on the issue with people in my circle who do not necessarily understand it because they might not have experienced it themselves or are conditioned to ignore it. In these debates, I have never been able to make a solid case for the debilitating effects of weight bias or its existence as I have no experience in the medical field, only personal stories. This inability was my primary motivation to undertake this project. An academic-level analysis of this prevalent problem and establishing dialogue with others who have faced the issue would be my ammunition against the nay-sayers. However, as I write this paper, at the culmination of my research study, I must admit that it is not the deniers I need to confront, but rather a whole system that I and many others who want to see a change in this sector need to intervene in. This chapter will provide an outlook on how it is a systemic issue and propose feasible ways to interrupt the vicious cycle of biased healthcare and the harmful consequences faced by fat patients.

My own experience with weight stigma naturally instills some biases in me.  I have determined the following biases that I hold in regards to weight stigma in healthcare:

• When someone comments on my weight or my health status, I automatically think they are condescending.
• All healthcare providers hold negative views of fat patients.
• All fat patients follow weight loss methods because their doctors have forced them.

Doing the research for this project had made it clear that these biases are all factually incorrect.

For this reason, through the toolkit, I came up with a three-point action plan to keep these biases in check as I proceeded with the study. These points are:

• I will read and insert more secondary research about the healthcare provider’s perspective and struggles.
• I will not succumb to personal feelings of resentment. I will acknowledge them when they appear and ensure they do not cloud the project.
• I will not portray healthcare providers as antagonists in the study. They are crucial to solving the problem. Solutions in the world are not achieved by attacking and alienating a primary stakeholder in an issue.

As you read through the next sections, please keep in mind that these action points were thoroughly applied at every step of the project. The unity of actors in the system is crucial to reducing healthcare weight bias in Ontario.