Rehabilitation Equity Series Course 2: Structural Racism in Rehabilitation Practice (1 CEU)

CEUs: 1 CEU | Format: Self-paced | Target Audience: Physical therapists, physical therapist assistants, occupational therapists, occupational therapy assistants, speech-language pathologists, and other rehabilitation and healthcare professionals

Approvals:

*Maryland Board of Physical Therapy Examiners #2026-472

Structural Racism in Rehabilitation Practice: Understanding Systems and Advancing Equitable Care

Course 2 of the Rehabilitation Equity Series™

Rehabilitation care is shaped by more than what happens during an individual clinical encounter. Policies, institutional practices, access to resources, referral pathways, insurance requirements, transportation, and other interconnected systems can influence who receives care, when care begins, and the opportunities patients have to participate in and benefit from rehabilitation.

Structural Racism in Rehabilitation Practice helps rehabilitation professionals understand how these broader systems and structures can contribute to differences in healthcare access, patient experiences, and outcomes. Building on the concepts introduced in Course 1, learners move beyond individual-level bias to examine how policies, practices, and systems may create or reinforce barriers across the rehabilitation care continuum.

Through realistic rehabilitation examples and focused clinical scenarios, learners will practice recognizing structural barriers and considering how those barriers may affect referral, access, participation, care planning, and continuity of care. The course concludes by applying the 3Rs of Equitable Rehabilitation™—Recognize, Reflect, Respond to system-level challenges and identifying practical actions rehabilitation professionals can take within their roles to support more equitable care.

Course Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, learners will be able to:

1. Define structural racism and describe how mutually reinforcing societal systems can influence healthcare.
2. Explain how interconnected systems, institutional practices, and policies may influence health, healthcare access, and rehabilitation outcomes.
3. Recognize structural barriers that may affect access, patient experiences, and outcomes across the continuum of care.
4. Apply the 3Rs of Equitable Rehabilitation™—Recognize, Reflect, Respond to address system-level barriers and advance equitable care.

Who Should Take This Course?

This course is designed for physical therapists, physical therapist assistants, occupational therapists, occupational therapy assistants, speech-language pathologists, athletic trainers, and other rehabilitation and healthcare professionals seeking to strengthen their understanding of structural influences on healthcare and equitable clinical practice.