VIDEO: Six ways clinicians can address rising anti-Asian sentiment

There has been a dramatic increase in anti-Asian sentiment since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to James H. Lee, MD, a psychiatry resident at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

This attitude has led to a rise in racially motivated violence against Asian Americans, he told Healio Primary Care.

“Commentators have attributed this distressing fact to the blame placed on China for causing the COVID-19 pandemic, given that the virus was initially discovered in Wuhan,” Lee wrote in an article recently published in The New England Journal of Medicine. “Because non-Asian people in the United States often conflate Asian subgroups, many people have directed their anti-Chinese sentiment toward people of other Asian heritage.”

In his article, Lee offers practical tips that health care professionals can use to combat rising anti-Asian sentiment. In this video, he discusses these tips and the importance of supporting patients and colleagues who are affected by racism.

Reference:

Lee JH. N Engl J Med. 2021;doi:10.1056/NEJMp2102656.