scholarly journals The Impact of Internalized Stigma on LGBT Parenting and the Importance of Health Care Structures: A Qualitative Study

Author(s):  
Carolina Alday-Mondaca ◽  
Siu Lay-Lisboa

Research on LGBTIQ+ families has focused on the effects of being in a diverse family on the development of children. We seek to show the experience of parenthood from the perspective of LGBTIQ+ people, considering its particularities and the role that health care services play as a potential support network. We used the biographical method through open-ended interviews, participants were LGBT people, and key informants from Chile, Colombia, and Mexico were selected based on a sociostructural sampling. We found that internalized stigma impacts LGBTIQ+ parenting in five ways: the impossibility of thinking of oneself as a parent, fear of violating children’s rights, fear of passing on the stigma, fear of introducing their LGBTIQ+ partner, and the greater discrimination that trans and intersex people suffer. We identified gaps in health care perceptions: the need to guarantee universal access to health care, the need to include a gender perspective and inclusive treatment by health personnel, mental health programs with a community approach, access to assisted fertilization programs, and the generation of collaborative alliances between health services, civil society organizations, and the LGBTIQ+ community. We conclude that the health system is a crucial space from which to enable guarantees for the exercise of rights and overcome internalized stigma.

2021 ◽  
pp. 238008442110266
Author(s):  
N. Giraudeau ◽  
B. Varenne

During the first wave of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the lockdown enforced led to considerable disruption to the activities of dental services, even leading to closures. To mitigate the impact of the lockdowns, systems were quickly put in place in most countries to respond to dental emergencies, giving priority to distance screening, advice to patients by remote means, and treatment of urgent cases while ensuring continuous care. Digital health was widely adopted as a central component of this new approach, leading to new practices and tools, which in turn demonstrated its potential, limitations, and possible excesses. Political leaders must become aware of the universal availability of digital technology and make use of it as an additional, safe means of providing services to the public. In view of the multiple uses of digital technologies in health—health literacy, teaching, prevention, early detection, therapeutics, and public health policies—deployment of a comprehensive program of digital oral health will require the adoption of a multifaceted approach. Digital tools should be designed to reduce, not increase, inequalities in access to health care. It offers an opportunity to improve healthy behavior, lower risk factors common to oral diseases and others noncommunicable diseases, and contribute to reducing oral health inequalities. It can accelerate the implementation of universal health coverage and help achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, leaving no one behind. Digital oral health should be one of the pillars of oral health care after COVID-19. Universal access to digital oral health should be promoted globally. The World Health Organization’s mOralHealth program aims to do that. Knowledge Transfer Statement: This position paper could be used by oral health stakeholders to convince their government to implement digital oral health program.


2003 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 444-463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Hagan ◽  
Nestor Rodriguez ◽  
Randy Capps ◽  
Nika Kabiri

This study investigates the impact of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, both passed in 1996, on the use of health-care services in immigrant communities in five Texas counties. The study presents findings of interviews with public agency officials, directors of community-based organizations, and members of 500 households during two research phases, 1997–1998 and 1998–1999. In the household sample, 20 percent of U.S. citizens and 30 percent of legal permanent residents who reported having received Medicaid during the five years before they were interviewed also reported losing the coverage during the past year. Some lost coverage because of welfare reform restrictions on noncitizen eligibility or because of changes in income or household size, but many eligible immigrants also withdrew from Medicaid “voluntarily.”


2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-47
Author(s):  
Solomon R. Benatar

The most common response to the challenge of protecting health through law is to focus on protecting the rights of vulnerable individuals and to enhance their access to health care. Each one of us is vulnerable or potentially vulnerable because of the fragile, existential nature of the human condition. Catastrophic and unexpected events could instantaneously transform us from a state of total independence and potential vulnerability to one of extreme vulnerability and complete dependence. Some legal provisions have the potential to provide a modicum of protection when we find ourselves in those situations (for example, through legislation, effective emergency health services can be created to reduce the impact of our potential vulnerability). There are also legal provisions that contribute to beneficial social circumstances; for example, legislation enabling universal access to medical care, and operationalizing respect for the individual’s right to health care, as advocated for by other authors in this issue.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Racheal Omukhulu Makokha

The last five decades have seen uncountable debates on the impact of decentralization on provision of public services. While it has evidently improved public service delivery in some countries, it has worsened it in others. Kenya implemented devolution in 2013 in the hope of bringing public services nearer to the people. Health was one of the services identified. Yet, the local media has reported negative impact of devolution on provision of health services since 2013. This study sought to look at the actual effect of devolution on access to health care services by analysing secondary quantitative data from the government published data, official statistics, international development agencies’ surveys and reports. Two county governments; Kisumu and Makueni were chosen to represent the urban and rural populations respectively. Contrary to the wider literature on health decentralization, this study found out that devolution did not worsen access to health care services in Kenya. The study attributed this to the nature of devolution adopted in the country where the county governments have considerable authority, decision-making power and responsibility over their counties.


2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (9) ◽  
pp. 1924-1961 ◽  
Author(s):  
ERIKA ARENAS ◽  
BONGOH KYE ◽  
GRACIELA TERUEL ◽  
LUIS RUBALCAVA

ABSTRACTPolicy makers are concerned about the socio-economic consequences of population ageing. Policies often rely on estimations of support ratios based solely on the population age structure. We estimate Generational Support Ratios (GSRs) considering health heterogeneity of the population age 60+ and education heterogeneity of their offspring. We explore the effect of a public policy that changes the education of a targeted sub-group of women when they are young on their health once they become older, taking into account changes in demographic processes (i.e.marriage, fertility, offspring's education). We used the model presented by Kyeet al.for the Korean context and examine the Mexican context. Our paper has three objectives. First, by applying this framework to the Mexican context we aim to find that improvements in women's education may mitigate the negative consequences of population ageing directly and indirectly through subsequent demographic behaviours that altogether affect GSRs. Second, by making a cross-national comparison between Korea and Mexico, we aim to quantify how policies of educational expansion have different impacts in contexts in which the population age 60+ have universal access to health care compared to contexts in which access to health care is selective. Third, by comparing cross-nationally we aim to show how differences in family processes across countries alter the pathways through which improvements in education affect GSRs.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gorgeous Sarah Chinkonono ◽  
Vivian Namuli ◽  
Catherine Atuhaire ◽  
Hamida Massaquoi ◽  
Sourav Mukhopadhyay ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Individuals who are Deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) face a lot of challenges when accessing health care services. The main barrier that they face is communication. Despite this, not much research had been carried out in Africa to understand how individuals who are DHH access healthcare services. This study sought to explore experiences of individuals who are DHH in Botswana when accessing healthcare services to propose recommendations towards improving their situation.Methods: This is a qualitative research study using phenomenological approach. Participants were observed at one point in time. Face-to-face in-depth interviews were conducted with 22 DHH individuals living in Francistown and Tati, using a semi-structured interview guide and an interpreter. Participants age range was between 18years to 40years. Purposive sampling and snowballing sampling techniques were used to select the participants.Results: The main challenge that individuals who are DHH in Botswana face is communication barrier which has culminated in their reception of poor healthcare services as the healthcare professionals fail to effectively attain to their health needs. This is evident through wrong prescriptions and treatment; poor counselling services, lack of confidentiality; poor maternal health services especially during child delivery; and limited health information. However, individuals who are DHH in Botswana continues to utilise healthcare services.Conclusion: Poor communication between healthcare professionals and individuals who are DHH act as an impediment to acquiring proper healthcare services by individuals who are DHH. This can lead to poor health outcomes for the DHH population as they are not well informed about health issues that they are at risk of and at times do not know where to seek specific healthcare services pertaining to the health problems they are experiencing. Therefore, there is a need to provide sign language interpreters in the healthcare centres to reduce the impact of this problem.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sasan Rasi

Background: Research has demonstrated lower access to healthcare services by immigrant patients in comparison to native people. Cultural and linguistic differences have been considered as main factors that impede this access and as barriers to creating an effective relationship between immigrant patients and health professionals.  Objective: The aim of this study was to better understand and synthesize the available evidence regarding the impact of immigrant patients’ language proficiency on access to health care. Methods: A systematic literature search was performed to identify studies published between January 2000 and January 2019 that examined the impact of language proficiency on access to and use of health services by immigrant patients. Only articles in English were included. Cross-referencing of the identified articles was also performed.  Results: A total of 140 publications was identified through online databases. In all 24 studies were reviewed, and the results were reported using four interrelated themes identified from the articles. These reports consistently showed a clear association between inadequate language ability and underuse of health care services, ineffective communication, and increased use of emergency care by immigrant patients. Identifying factors that can influence access to care, applying immigrant-friendly solutions such as provision of professional interpreters, and encouraging culturally and linguistically sensitive education may improve the quality of care and increase access to care. One study recommended utilisation of communication technologies such as telemedicine to bridge the communication gap and increase accessibility of healthcare services by immigrant patients.  Conclusions: All included studies indicated that language barriers hindered access to healthcare services. The data resulting from this study can update policy and practical solutions for language barriers on access to care by immigrant patients and provide an agenda for further investigations. 


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Ela Gokalp Aras ◽  
Sertan Kabadayi ◽  
Emir Ozeren ◽  
Erhan Aydin

Purpose This paper aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of factors that contribute to refugees’ exclusion from health-care services. More specifically, using institutional theory, this paper identifies regulative pillar-, normative pillar- and cultural/cognitive pillar-related challenges that result in refugees having limited or no access to health-care services. Design/methodology/approach The paper draws on both secondary research and empirical insights from two qualitative fieldwork studies totaling 37 semi-structured meso-level interviews, observations and focus groups in three Turkish cities (Izmir, Ankara and Edirne), as well as a total of 42 micro-level, semi-structured interviews with refugees and migrants in one large city (Izmir) in Turkey. Findings This study reveals that systematically stratified legal statuses result in different levels of access to public health-care services for migrants, asylum seekers or refugees based on their fragmented protection statuses. The findings suggest access to health-care is differentiated not only between local citizens and refugees but also among the refugees and migrants based on their legal status as shaped by their country of origin. Originality/value While the role of macro challenges such as laws and government regulations in shaping policies about refugees have been examined in other fields, the impact of such factors on refugee services and well-being has been largely ignored in service literature in general, as well as transformative service research literature in particular. This study is one of the first attempts by explicitly including macro-level factors to contribute to the discussion on the refugees’ access to public health-care services in a host country by relying on the institutional theory by providing a holistic understanding of cognitive, normative and regulative factors in understanding service exclusion problem.


Author(s):  
Lukas Reitzle ◽  
Christian Schmidt ◽  
Francesca Färber ◽  
Lena Huebl ◽  
Lothar Heinz Wieler ◽  
...  

During the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany, non-pharmaceutical interventions were imposed to contain the spread of the virus. Based on cross-sectional waves in March, July and December 2020 of the COVID-19 Snapshot Monitoring (COSMO), the present study investigated the impact of the introduced measures on the perceived access to health care. Additionally, for the wave in December, treatment occasion as well as utilization and satisfaction regarding telemedicine were analysed. For 18–74-year-old participants requiring medical care, descriptive and logistic regression analyses were performed. During the less strict second lockdown in December, participants reported more frequently ensured access to health care (91.2%) compared to the first lockdown in March (86.8%), but less frequently compared to July (94.2%) during a period with only mild restrictions. In December, main treatment occasions of required medical appointments were check-up visits at the general practitioner (55.2%) and dentist (36.2%), followed by acute treatments at the general practitioner (25.6%) and dentist (19.0%), treatments at the physio-, ergo- or speech therapist (13.1%), psychotherapist (11.9%), and scheduled hospital admissions or surgeries (10.0%). Of the participants, 20.0% indicated utilization of telemedical (15.4% telephone, 7.6% video) consultations. Of them, 43.7% were satisfied with the service. In conclusion, for the majority of participants, access to medical care was ensured during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, access slightly decreased during phases of lockdown. Telemedicine complemented the access to medical appointments.


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