Sean M Phelan
Biographic Data
| ID | 176721 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Sean M Phelan |
| GIVEN NAMES | Sean M |
| FAMILY NAME | Phelan |
| SIGNATURE | PHELAN S M |
| AFFILIATIONS | Mayo Clinic |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2091-6297 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 30 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 303 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 30 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2004 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 9 |
The Disproportionate Impact of Structural and Cultural Factors on Covid-19 Outcomes in Hispanic Populations
The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated health disparities, disproportionately impacting Hispanic populations. Structural inequities, unfavorable social determinants of health (SDOH), and sociocultural values have all been found to be associated with higher COVID-19 transmission rates. To explore this further, we conducted a community-engaged, mixed methods study to examine how these factors influenced adherence to COVID-19 guidelines. Data was collect…
Common Data Element (CDE) Success from Community-Engagement Not Mandates
Common Data Element (CDE) Success from Community-Engagement Not Mandates: If You Build It [Data Warehouse], Will They [Participants] Come?, an article from American Journal of Public Health, Vol 115 Issue S2
A virtual reality intervention to increase interracial empathy and upstander behaviors in nursing leaders
Weight bias and preparedness to treat higher-weight patients
Weight stigma is widely recognized as a significant concern in healthcare. Studies indicate that as medical trainees advance through their training, their levels of weight bias may intensify. Such prejudices can lead to inferior care for higher-weight patients, underscoring the urgency for research that identifies factors that are protective against the development of weight bias. Prior findings have shown that the motivation to respond without p…
Dismantling weight stigma in eating disorder treatment
The authors posit current guidelines and treatment for eating disorders (EDs) fail to adequately address, and often perpetuate, weight stigma. The social devaluation and denigration of higher-weight individuals cuts across nearly every life domain and is associated with negative physiological and psychosocial outcomes, mirroring the harms attributed to weight itself. Maintaining focus on weight in ED treatment can intensify weight stigma among pa…
Association of Patient and System-Level Factors With Social Determinants of Health Screening
BACKGROUND: Health systems are increasingly recognizing the importance of collecting social determinants of health (SDoH) data. However, gaps remain in our understanding of facilitators or barriers to collection. To address these gaps, we evaluated a real-world implementation of a SDoH screening tool. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of the implementation of the SDoH screening tool at Mayo Clinic in 2019. The outcomes are: (1) compl…
The Interplay Between Group Identity, Suicidality, and Bullying in Midwestern Middle School Youth
Bullying peaks in middle school and is a risk factor for negative mental health outcomes, including suicidality. Suicide rates are higher in nonmetropolitan/rural areas and for American Indian/Alaska Natives compared to other racial/ethnic groups. Stigma-related bullying, a type of interpersonal discrimination, is increasingly considered an important driver of peer victimization. This study centers on the group identity characteristics of race/et…
Testing a self‐affirmation intervention for improving the psychosocial health of Black and White medical students in the United States
Self‐affirmation interventions have been shown to mitigate the negative psychological effects of stereotype threat on Black students in secondary and undergraduate education. However, there is currently limited research testing whether Black students in medical schools may also experience the negative influences of stereotype threat. Until now, it has been unclear whether Black (vs. White) students experience a lower sense of belonging in medical…
The Value of Interracial Contact for Reducing Anti-Black Bias Among Non-Black Physicians
Although scholars have long studied circumstances that shape prejudice, inquiry into factors associated with long-term prejudice reduction has been more limited. Using a 6-year longitudinal study of non-Black physicians in training ( N = 3,134), we examined the effect of three medical-school factors-interracial contact, medical-school environment, and diversity training-on explicit and implicit racial bias measured during medical residency. When …
Contact and role modeling predict bias against lesbian and gay individuals among early-career physicians
Burden and mental health among caregivers of veterans with traumatic brain injury/polytrauma
Veterans who survive multiple traumatic injuries, including traumatic brain injuries (TBI), must often rely on family caregivers for ongoing care and support with reintegration. Understanding factors associated with caregiving that help or harm caregivers' health is critical for identifying appropriate and effective interventions that support caregiver health and promote the provision of quality care to veterans. This study utilized cross-section…
Critical discourse analysis and media studies
This chapter focuses on Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), but embeds the discussion in some general reflections on the place of the concept of discourse in media studies. It reflects on the emergence of CDA as a distinct approach in the 1980s and 1990s, especially as it resonated with the theoretical division between political economy and cultural studies in media studies. The chapter considers possible future iterations of media discourse studi…
Beyond generalized sexual prejudice
Informal Training Experiences and Explicit Bias against African Americans among Medical Students
Despite the widespread inclusion of diversity-related curricula in US medical training, racial disparities in the quality of care and physician bias in medical treatment persist. The present study examined the effects of both formal and informal experiences on non-African American medical students' ( N =2922) attitudes toward African Americans in a longitudinal study of 49 randomly selected US medical schools. We assessed the effects experiences …
Racial Identity and Mental Well-Being
Medical School Experiences Associated with Change in Implicit Racial Bias Among 3547 Students
BACKGROUND: Physician implicit (unconscious, automatic) bias has been shown to contribute to racial disparities in medical care. The impact of medical education on implicit racial bias is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between change in student implicit racial bias towards African Americans and student reports on their experiences with 1) formal curricula related to disparities in health and health care, cultural competence, and/o…
Impact of weight bias and stigma on quality of care and outcomes for patients with obesity
The objective of this study was to critically review the empirical evidence from all relevant disciplines regarding obesity stigma in order to (i) determine the implications of obesity stigma for healthcare providers and their patients with obesity and (ii) identify strategies to improve care for patients with obesity. We conducted a search of M edline and PsychInfo for all peer‐reviewed papers presenting original empirical data relevant to stigm…
Do Contact and Empathy Mitigate Bias Against Gay and Lesbian People Among Heterosexual First-Year Medical Students? A Report From the Medical Student CHANGE Study
PURPOSE: A recent Institute of Medicine report concluded that lesbian and gay individuals face discrimination from health care providers and called for research on provider attitudes. Medical school is a critical juncture for improving future providers' treatment of sexual minorities. This study examined both explicit bias and implicit bias against lesbian women and gay men among first-year medical students, focusing on two predictors of such bia…
Minority Primary Care Patients With Depression
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Racial and ethnic disparities in depression incidence, prevalence, treatment, and outcomes still persist. The hypothesis of this study was that use of collaborative care management (CCM) in treating depressed primary care patients would decrease racial disparities in 6-month clinical outcomes compared with those patients treated with usual primary care (UC). RESEARCH DESIGN/SUBJECTS: In a retrospective chart review analysis…
Mental Well-Being in First Year Medical Students
Utilization of Hospital-Based Chaplain Services Among Newly Diagnosed Male Veterans Affairs Colorectal Cancer Patients
Unhealthy Interactions
Stereotype threat is the unpleasant psychological experience of confronting negative stereotypes about race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or social status. Hundreds of published studies show how the experience of stereotype threat can impair intellectual functioning and interfere with test and school performance. Numerous published interventions derived from this research have improved the performance and motivation of individuals targe…
Is Policy Well-Targeted to Remedy Financial Strain among Caregivers of Severely Injured U.S. Service Members
U.S. military service members have sustained severe injuries since the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This paper aims to determine the factors associated with financial strain of their caregivers and establish whether recent federal legislation targets caregivers experiencing financial strain. In our national survey, 62.3% of caregivers depleted assets and/or accumulated debt, and 41% of working caregivers left the labor force. If a s…
The Impact of Racism on Clinician Cognition, Behavior, and Clinical Decision Making
Over the past two decades, thousands of studies have demonstrated that Blacks receive lower quality medical care than Whites, independent of disease status, setting, insurance, and other clinically relevant factors. Despite this, there has been little progress towards eradicating these inequities. Almost a decade ago we proposed a conceptual model identifying mechanisms through which clinicians' behavior, cognition, and decision making might be i…
Stereotype Threat and Health Disparities
The Association between Perceived Discrimination and Underutilization of Needed Medical and Mental Health Care in a Multi-Ethnic Community Sample
This study examines the association between perceived discrimination and underutilization of needed medical and mental health care, in a representative, multi-ethnic community sample. Data were derived from a cross sectional survey of 10,098 White, U.S.-born Black, African-born Black, American Indian, Hispanic, and Southeast Asian adults in Hennepin County, Minnesota. Even after controlling for socio-demographic characteristics, health care acces…
The Impact of Racism on Clinician Cognition, Behavior, and Clinical Decision Making
Over the past two decades, thousands of studies have demonstrated that Blacks receive lower quality medical care than Whites, independent of disease status, setting, insurance, and other clinically relevant factors. Despite this, there has been little progress towards eradicating these inequities. Almost a decade ago we proposed a conceptual model identifying mechanisms through which clinicians' behavior, cognition, and decision making might be i…
Social Support and Recovery in People with Serious Mental Illnesses
Unhealthy Interactions
Stereotype threat is the unpleasant psychological experience of confronting negative stereotypes about race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or social status. Hundreds of published studies show how the experience of stereotype threat can impair intellectual functioning and interfere with test and school performance. Numerous published interventions derived from this research have improved the performance and motivation of individuals targe…
Patient race and physicians' decisions to prescribe opioids for chronic low back pain
Beyond generalized sexual prejudice
The Value of Interracial Contact for Reducing Anti-Black Bias Among Non-Black Physicians
Although scholars have long studied circumstances that shape prejudice, inquiry into factors associated with long-term prejudice reduction has been more limited. Using a 6-year longitudinal study of non-Black physicians in training ( N = 3,134), we examined the effect of three medical-school factors-interracial contact, medical-school environment, and diversity training-on explicit and implicit racial bias measured during medical residency. When …
Some Recovery Processes in Mutual-Help Groups for Persons with Mental Illness; II
Informal Training Experiences and Explicit Bias against African Americans among Medical Students
Despite the widespread inclusion of diversity-related curricula in US medical training, racial disparities in the quality of care and physician bias in medical treatment persist. The present study examined the effects of both formal and informal experiences on non-African American medical students' ( N =2922) attitudes toward African Americans in a longitudinal study of 49 randomly selected US medical schools. We assessed the effects experiences …
Mental Well-Being in First Year Medical Students
Contact and role modeling predict bias against lesbian and gay individuals among early-career physicians
The discursive dynamics of neo-liberal consensus
The stock market floatation of Telecom Eireann (the soon to be renamed Eircom) in July 1999 was, and remains, “the biggest privatization in the history of the Irish state”. Through the application of a critical discourse analysis framework (Chouliaraki and Fairclough 1999; Fairclough 2003), this article examines editorial discourse both before and after the company’s initially ‘successful’ floatation in six Irish broadsheet newspapers. The differ…
Racial Identity and Mental Well-Being
Testing a self‐affirmation intervention for improving the psychosocial health of Black and White medical students in the United States
Self‐affirmation interventions have been shown to mitigate the negative psychological effects of stereotype threat on Black students in secondary and undergraduate education. However, there is currently limited research testing whether Black students in medical schools may also experience the negative influences of stereotype threat. Until now, it has been unclear whether Black (vs. White) students experience a lower sense of belonging in medical…
Social Support and Recovery in People with Serious Mental Illnesses
Some Recovery Processes in Mutual-Help Groups for Persons with Mental Illness; II
The discursive dynamics of neo-liberal consensus
The stock market floatation of Telecom Eireann (the soon to be renamed Eircom) in July 1999 was, and remains, “the biggest privatization in the history of the Irish state”. Through the application of a critical discourse analysis framework (Chouliaraki and Fairclough 1999; Fairclough 2003), this article examines editorial discourse both before and after the company’s initially ‘successful’ floatation in six Irish broadsheet newspapers. The differ…
The Association between Perceived Discrimination and Underutilization of Needed Medical and Mental Health Care in a Multi-Ethnic Community Sample
This study examines the association between perceived discrimination and underutilization of needed medical and mental health care, in a representative, multi-ethnic community sample. Data were derived from a cross sectional survey of 10,098 White, U.S.-born Black, African-born Black, American Indian, Hispanic, and Southeast Asian adults in Hennepin County, Minnesota. Even after controlling for socio-demographic characteristics, health care acces…
Patient race and physicians' decisions to prescribe opioids for chronic low back pain
Stereotype Threat and Health Disparities
The Impact of Racism on Clinician Cognition, Behavior, and Clinical Decision Making
Over the past two decades, thousands of studies have demonstrated that Blacks receive lower quality medical care than Whites, independent of disease status, setting, insurance, and other clinically relevant factors. Despite this, there has been little progress towards eradicating these inequities. Almost a decade ago we proposed a conceptual model identifying mechanisms through which clinicians' behavior, cognition, and decision making might be i…
Is Policy Well-Targeted to Remedy Financial Strain among Caregivers of Severely Injured U.S. Service Members
U.S. military service members have sustained severe injuries since the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This paper aims to determine the factors associated with financial strain of their caregivers and establish whether recent federal legislation targets caregivers experiencing financial strain. In our national survey, 62.3% of caregivers depleted assets and/or accumulated debt, and 41% of working caregivers left the labor force. If a s…
Unhealthy Interactions
Stereotype threat is the unpleasant psychological experience of confronting negative stereotypes about race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or social status. Hundreds of published studies show how the experience of stereotype threat can impair intellectual functioning and interfere with test and school performance. Numerous published interventions derived from this research have improved the performance and motivation of individuals targe…
Utilization of Hospital-Based Chaplain Services Among Newly Diagnosed Male Veterans Affairs Colorectal Cancer Patients
Medical School Experiences Associated with Change in Implicit Racial Bias Among 3547 Students
BACKGROUND: Physician implicit (unconscious, automatic) bias has been shown to contribute to racial disparities in medical care. The impact of medical education on implicit racial bias is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between change in student implicit racial bias towards African Americans and student reports on their experiences with 1) formal curricula related to disparities in health and health care, cultural competence, and/o…
Impact of weight bias and stigma on quality of care and outcomes for patients with obesity
The objective of this study was to critically review the empirical evidence from all relevant disciplines regarding obesity stigma in order to (i) determine the implications of obesity stigma for healthcare providers and their patients with obesity and (ii) identify strategies to improve care for patients with obesity. We conducted a search of M edline and PsychInfo for all peer‐reviewed papers presenting original empirical data relevant to stigm…
Do Contact and Empathy Mitigate Bias Against Gay and Lesbian People Among Heterosexual First-Year Medical Students? A Report From the Medical Student CHANGE Study
PURPOSE: A recent Institute of Medicine report concluded that lesbian and gay individuals face discrimination from health care providers and called for research on provider attitudes. Medical school is a critical juncture for improving future providers' treatment of sexual minorities. This study examined both explicit bias and implicit bias against lesbian women and gay men among first-year medical students, focusing on two predictors of such bia…
Minority Primary Care Patients With Depression
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Racial and ethnic disparities in depression incidence, prevalence, treatment, and outcomes still persist. The hypothesis of this study was that use of collaborative care management (CCM) in treating depressed primary care patients would decrease racial disparities in 6-month clinical outcomes compared with those patients treated with usual primary care (UC). RESEARCH DESIGN/SUBJECTS: In a retrospective chart review analysis…
Mental Well-Being in First Year Medical Students
Informal Training Experiences and Explicit Bias against African Americans among Medical Students
Despite the widespread inclusion of diversity-related curricula in US medical training, racial disparities in the quality of care and physician bias in medical treatment persist. The present study examined the effects of both formal and informal experiences on non-African American medical students' ( N =2922) attitudes toward African Americans in a longitudinal study of 49 randomly selected US medical schools. We assessed the effects experiences …
Racial Identity and Mental Well-Being
Burden and mental health among caregivers of veterans with traumatic brain injury/polytrauma
Veterans who survive multiple traumatic injuries, including traumatic brain injuries (TBI), must often rely on family caregivers for ongoing care and support with reintegration. Understanding factors associated with caregiving that help or harm caregivers' health is critical for identifying appropriate and effective interventions that support caregiver health and promote the provision of quality care to veterans. This study utilized cross-section…
Critical discourse analysis and media studies
This chapter focuses on Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), but embeds the discussion in some general reflections on the place of the concept of discourse in media studies. It reflects on the emergence of CDA as a distinct approach in the 1980s and 1990s, especially as it resonated with the theoretical division between political economy and cultural studies in media studies. The chapter considers possible future iterations of media discourse studi…
Beyond generalized sexual prejudice
The Value of Interracial Contact for Reducing Anti-Black Bias Among Non-Black Physicians
Although scholars have long studied circumstances that shape prejudice, inquiry into factors associated with long-term prejudice reduction has been more limited. Using a 6-year longitudinal study of non-Black physicians in training ( N = 3,134), we examined the effect of three medical-school factors-interracial contact, medical-school environment, and diversity training-on explicit and implicit racial bias measured during medical residency. When …
Contact and role modeling predict bias against lesbian and gay individuals among early-career physicians
Testing a self‐affirmation intervention for improving the psychosocial health of Black and White medical students in the United States
Self‐affirmation interventions have been shown to mitigate the negative psychological effects of stereotype threat on Black students in secondary and undergraduate education. However, there is currently limited research testing whether Black students in medical schools may also experience the negative influences of stereotype threat. Until now, it has been unclear whether Black (vs. White) students experience a lower sense of belonging in medical…
Association of Patient and System-Level Factors With Social Determinants of Health Screening
BACKGROUND: Health systems are increasingly recognizing the importance of collecting social determinants of health (SDoH) data. However, gaps remain in our understanding of facilitators or barriers to collection. To address these gaps, we evaluated a real-world implementation of a SDoH screening tool. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of the implementation of the SDoH screening tool at Mayo Clinic in 2019. The outcomes are: (1) compl…
The Interplay Between Group Identity, Suicidality, and Bullying in Midwestern Middle School Youth
Bullying peaks in middle school and is a risk factor for negative mental health outcomes, including suicidality. Suicide rates are higher in nonmetropolitan/rural areas and for American Indian/Alaska Natives compared to other racial/ethnic groups. Stigma-related bullying, a type of interpersonal discrimination, is increasingly considered an important driver of peer victimization. This study centers on the group identity characteristics of race/et…
Psychology (23 works) · Medicine (22 works) · Psychiatry (16 works) · Social Psychology (15 works) · Clinical Psychology (13 works) · Social Psychology (12 works) · Family medicine (10 works) · Clinical Psychology (9 works) · Racial and Ethnic Identity Research (9 works) · Sociology (9 works)