ABCTL: The Implicit Modification Of The Patient-Physician Relationship To Reduce Medical Mistrust And Discriminatory Biases

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to high demand for testing. It also has affected minorities at disproportionate rates, and the impact is made worse due to the underlying mistrust minorities hold against medical institutions. A similar theme is observed against physicians, especially Asian American healthcare providers experiencing firsthand discrimination. Therefore, there is this reciprocal relationship between the patient and provider rooted in mistrust and discriminatory biases. This thesis aims to analyze how ASU Biodesign COVID-19 Testing Lab (ABCTL) functions to implicitly modify potential effects of a patient-provider relationship based on the concepts of health equity and cultural humility. The analysis then suggests that ABCTL accomplished the concept of health equity through community partnerships and by recruiting community healthcare workers for long-term stability, it successfully achieved cultural humility.