“Toward Cultural Sensitivity for Marginalized Patients”
Social Sciences
LALS 199F Independent Study
The health care provided to those in marginalized groups often is insensitive and comes along with structural barriers, practitioners’ stereotypes or lack of knowledge about patients’ full needs may increase the barriers to accessing health care. Those members of marginalized groups - based on race, gender, sexuality, poverty, migration, and more - and those who have multiple vulnerabilities (such as Latinos/as/xs, women, LGBTQ+, indigenous migrants, etc.) may have negative encounters with health care practitioners, leading them to access health care transnationally. In terms of transnational health perspectives, I did not learn about this in an academic setting until recently at UCSC, taking LALS courses (Latin American & Latino Studies) where I learned many theories, histories, and concepts that related to my life, as a Latina. It was in this course in particular, in fall quarter of 2016 that I learned about Binational Health Week, and that I analyzed health in my life and in other marginalized groups was LALS 175, Migration, Gender, and Health. Therefore, my purpose for writing the expanded paper, as my own research project expanded from LALS 175 with a focus on health fairs, is to further my knowledge about this topic. It intertwines with many of my life experiences with transnational health care and passion towards why I plan on becoming a physician. Overall, there are many factors to understand and improve care, and the health interactions, access, and outcomes of people, specifically for marginalized groups further marginalized in anything related to health.
