{"id":1768,"date":"2024-09-02T15:06:39","date_gmt":"2024-09-02T14:06:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/edi\/?p=1768"},"modified":"2024-09-02T15:25:05","modified_gmt":"2024-09-02T14:25:05","slug":"christopher-sutton-inclusive-visual-healthcare-resources","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/edi\/2024\/09\/02\/christopher-sutton-inclusive-visual-healthcare-resources\/","title":{"rendered":"Christopher Sutton: Inclusive visual healthcare resources"},"content":{"rendered":"

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For much of healthcare education, the \u2018normal body\u2019 as presented in visual teaching resources is White, slim, young, non-disabled, cis-gender and male (Daodu and Ruzycki, 2023<\/a>). In addition to being \u2018inadequate and unrealistic\u2019 (Parker, Larkin and Cockburn, 2017<\/a>), this \u2018normal body\u2019 is a factor in the disparities, biases and barriers faced by many marginalised people regarding student attainment, career progression and patient outcomes (for example, see: Woolf, 2020<\/a>; Hotine, 2021<\/a>; Marmot et al., 2020<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Representation matters.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are many amazing projects and people working on solutions, from Mukwende, Tamony and Turner\u2019s Mind the Gap<\/a> resource on clinical signs in Black and Brown skin to Chidiebere Ibe\u2019s viral illustration of a Black foetus, which birthed the Illustrate Change<\/a> project. In fact, my brilliant colleague, Megan Broadbent, is leading our FBMH e-learning team\u2019s living repository of inclusive visual resources<\/a> (which will hopefully be live soon \u2013 watch this space!).<\/p>\n

That said, there are still challenges. First, the scale of the disparity is enormous, and we need more images. Second, licensing terms can be restrictive with what educators can do with existing resources, especially in digital spaces, which can particularly limit active learning. Third, there are some blind spots and biases in some well-intentioned efforts, especially regarding disability and trans* representation as well as pervasive weight stigma. And finally, there\u2019s generative AI whose models include and can thus reinforce these biases (and much worse beside).<\/p>\n

Through an ITL fellowship called \u2018Learning for Every Body\u2019, I sought to investigate these challenges, asking the question: \u2018What are good practices for the creation and use of more inclusive visual teaching resources?\u2019<\/p>\n

After a lot of research, discussions and reflection and with the support of a lot of people, including two fantastic Student Partner Interns, I recruited a small but remarkable team of artists and models to pilot commissioning more diverse anatomical illustrations. They are:<\/p>\n