Discrimination in Healthcare, Essay Example

Question: Describe the double disadvantage and how medical care is theorized to be disproportionately administered due to demographic factors.

Grollman (2014) proffers the so-called double disadvantage adults face within the current healthcare system which refers to intrinsic discrimination within the system. Subaltern patients often receive inferior medical treatment according to this theory, although many healthcare officials decry the theory as flawed due to the fact that it fails to take into consideration all social factors. Shields (2008) support Grollman’s assertion by stating that race, gender, age, and sexual orientation undergird systemic inequality in the current healthcare system. The intersectionality of these various categories forms the foundation of ubiquitous  bigotry and discrimination. Ferraro & Farmer assert that social issues including poverty within rural contexts also amplify the lack of sound medical care that minorities receive. All of these authors acknowledge the fact that not all minorities are the victim of the double disadvantage, although when a patient receives poor quality healthcare Grollman (2014) considers such treatment as prejudicial in nature.  These various articles all assume that pathologies within the healthcare system are governed by bigotry, racism, and/or sexism.

Comments on paper 1: This paper was a cogent discussion of the ramifications of stigma attached to individuals diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. Your writing is very clear and you addressed the core issues in the week’s readings in a thoughtful and organized manner. A more in-depth discussion of how culture shapes attitudes towards individuals with HIV/AIDS would have strengthened this paper. In addition to becoming a so-called black disease, HIV/AIDS has also become intrinsically linked with homosexuality. This reality has a lot to do with western culture and the heteronormative paradigm that shapes it. Thus, I suggest that you expound on your discussion of cultural values in order to better inform your discussion about HIV/AIDS as symptomatic of hegemonic western culture. This discussion calls for a more meticulous exposition of the power structures in place and how stigma bolsters the status quo.

Comments on paper 2: This paper provides a meticulous discussion of the role of intersectionality in the administration of healthcare and how demographics shapes people’s healthcare experiences. You explained the core arguments of each article and integrated them together in order to provide nuance to a narrative on intersectionality within healthcare settings. The paper flows nicely as you did a great job tying the readings together, which makes your paper sound very organic. It would have benefited from a definition of intersectionality to better edify the corpus of literature on minority experiences within the healthcare system. I suggest that you explicitly define the concept and explain more how it undergirds prejudicial treatment within healthcare settings. Indeed, intersectionality is a relatively unknown concept within the discipline of psychology, yet it is crucial to understand because of the nature of stigma within increasingly connected communities.