Health Care in US Detention Centers

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-63
Author(s):  
Miguel Cerón Becerra ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Access To Health Care ◽  
Immigration Detention ◽  
Detention Centers ◽  
Relational Justice ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Access To Health ◽  
The Us ◽  
Immigrant Organizations ◽  
Preferential Option

The US has built the most extensive immigration detention system globally. Over the last three administrations, several organizations have noted a systemic failure in the provision of health care in detention centers, leading to the torture and death of immigrants. This essay develops the principle of the preferential option for the poor to examine the causes of deficient access to health care and solutions to overcome them. It analyzes the substandard health care in detention centers from the notion of structural violence and systematizes solutions of grassroots immigrant organizations from the idea of solidarity, understood here as a form of friendship with the poor that moves toward relational justice. Its goal is to build bridges between people so that the political will is generated to create policies to improve and enforce health care standards in detention centers and address the unjust foundations of immigration detention.

Democratization, Elites, and the Expansion of Access to Health Care and Medicine

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Harris
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Labor Unions ◽  
Access To Health Care ◽  
Political Competition ◽  
Social Progress ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Access To Health ◽  
Key Concepts ◽  
The Masses

Sociologists have rarely imagined elites as capable of delivering for society the promise of a better future. More frequently, labor unions and left-wing parties, or grassroots social movements, have been looked to as champions of social progress. This chapter explores the broader theoretical contributions of the book and situates the key concepts of “professional movements” and “heightened political competition” in the literature. First, whereas scholarship has emphasized the way in which democratization empowers the masses, this book turns conventional wisdom on its head by suggesting that democratization empowers elites. Second, it calls attention to the role that newly empowered (and public-minded) professionals play in expanding access to healthcare and medicine on behalf of the poor and those in need. Third, it highlights the importance of differences in the character of political competition in the wake of democratic transition in conditioning the possibilities for well-organized professional movements to institute such changes.

The Role of Acculturation and Social Capital in Access to Health Care: A Meta-study on Hispanics in the US

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 1224-1252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria E. Rodriguez-Alcalá ◽  
Hua Qin ◽  
Stephen Jeanetta
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Social Capital ◽  
Access To Health Care ◽  
Access To Health ◽  
The Us

Supporting older military veterans in the rural US

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 286-297
Author(s):  
Bret Hicken ◽  
Kimber Parry
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Access To Health Care ◽  
Veterans Health ◽  
Health Administration ◽  
Care Needs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Access To Health ◽  
The Us

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of rural older veterans in the US and discuss how the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is increasing access to health care for older veterans in rural areas. Design/methodology/approach This is a descriptive paper summarizing population and program data about rural veterans. Findings VA provides a variety of health care services and benefits for older veterans to support health, independence, and quality of life. With the creation of the Veterans Health Administration Office of Rural Health (ORH) in 2006, the needs of rural veterans, who are on average older than urban veterans, are receiving greater attention and support. ORH and VA have implemented several programs to specifically improve access to health care for rural veterans and to improve quality of care for older veterans in rural areas. Originality/value This paper is one of the first to describe how VA is addressing the health care needs of older, rural veterans.

Conclusion

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shirley A. Hill
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Social Mobility ◽  
Access To Health Care ◽  
Medical System ◽  
Institutionalized Racism ◽  
Access To Health ◽  
Chronic Stressors ◽  
The Us ◽  
Black Health ◽  
Racial Disparities In Health

Within the US, racial disparities in health have remained stark: Blacks have higher rates of sickness and infant mortality than other races, and the shortest life spans. Racial stereotypes, exclusion and discrimination are chronic stressors and take a toll on black health. Institutionalized racism operates in less visible ways to undermine health, such as less spending on public services in black neighbourhoods. The adverse effects of these policies are compounded in a society that emphasizes social mobility through hard work yet offers limited opportunities for the disadvantaged to achieve that mobility. The nation’s poor health outcomes reflect racial and class inequalities in access to health care and decent living conditions, and tarnishes the reputation of its medical system and its image as a world leader.

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