Healthcare - Earning public trust; Distrust in our healthcare systems, allopathic methods, scienc...
1. Low-income folks are more likely to experience distrust in the medical system because they have received substandard care in comparison to paid healthcare services. In Canadian universal healthcare, there are not enough resources, wait times are long for many services and specialists, building relationships with doctors is a struggle because of their workloads and distrust and medical-based trauma stems from a difference of experience or not relating to your provider.
1.1. Low income populations require more healthcare because of the poor living conditions of poverty and the higher likelihood of risky behaviors and victimization. This increase in demand is not met with increased resource or accommodations to assist (income assistance, mental health, job resources)
1.1.1. These populations are also more likely to hold harmful ideas about vaccinations or other medical practices because they are less likely to seek higher education or receive adequate medical literacy in public systems. They are also less likely to get into health-related careers to destigmatize or create innovative change for the quality of care.
1.1.1.1. Proposed changes are to create a universal basic income to increase health outcomes, make educational institutions more accessible financially and structurally to allow more diverse backgrounds to participate in the field. Address system violence against poor people that propel poor health outcomes to increase relationship with the system as preventative rather than reactive.
1.1.1.2. Less likely to have a family doctor due to geographic displacement from facilities or socially its not a norm/can't relate or form relationship with a doctor.
1.2. (an example is fat people feeling distrust in their providers because many issues are brushed off due to their weight - this is a form of medicalized violence against low income folks)
2. Inaccessible, not universal because higher levels of care given to higher classes (questionable quality)
3. Improper dissemination of information
3.1. Modern curriculums in the publci school systems do not go over the development of medications or vaccinations or their history. Knowing how vaccines or medicines are created and how they work within the body are important for understanding their importance. Modern medicine is centralized in science, so within contexts of science and health there should be discussion and investigation into these forms of care to prevent ignorance and promote health.
3.1.1. An example I can think of from personal experience was the HPV vaccine. In middle school the girls were sent home with permission slips and then lined up in the hallway. We did not know what HPV was, how you get it, symptoms, or why it was a gender based vaccine. Being uninformed made us all nervous, but it also created ignorance in our practices; there was no promotion of sexual health or healthy practices discussed along with the vaccine. The lack of information creates distrust because we are unaware of what the disease was, how is presented itself, its consequences or how to contract it. Having educationally informed youth promotes adults to make proper health choices and trust the medical system.
3.2. Online disseminated of information; the internet is a means to spreading information but has also been used to misinform populations. Healthcare bodies need to put more effort into disseminated proper information and practices to earn the trust of the public. Being open and honest about practices and procedures, having correct information available through websites, videos and articles. Online medical forums are also a positive mode for disseminated health information.
4. Anti Vaccine rhetoric is a phenomenon that has come throughout the century, but the conversation is most prominent because of the pandemic. Anti-vaccine ideologies believe that the science is flawed, there will be harsh long-term consequences, largely impacting fertility and fetuses, the vaccinations are not natural or they are a way governments plan to take control over us or their demonstration of power over us (citizens).
4.1. Anti Vaccine believers obtain much of their information through opinion pieces on the internet. There is little to no statistical date backing their claims.
4.1.1. A proposed solution to get anti vaxx populations to recognize the validly and necessity of vaccines is wider education on health and science. Having the curriculum include the development of medicines would encourage more folks to get necessary vaccinations so stop needless diseases.
5. COVID - Anti Vax rhetoric
6. Minorities - History of medicalized eugenics, sterilization and experimentation.
6.1. Indigenous communities
6.1.1. Solutions?
6.1.1.1. Creating Indigenous-specific and indigenous-led healthcare spaces. This allows for the providers to create a service catered to this population, having a space accessible to their communities geographically, as well as culturally. Being able to connect to space fosters feelings of trust. This also allows for this delivery of healthcare to decolonize its practice because it is being offered in indigenous-led ways.
6.1.1.1.1. Indigenous healing lodges are modern examples of this form of care, usually designated for offenders or those struggling with addictions. They are culturally focused spaces wherein holistic practices are implemented to be more beneficial for the individuals healing within self and community. In a healthcare context, these spaces can occur simultaneously by allowing holistic methods and indigenous experiences to guide medicalized delivery.
6.2. Black communities
6.2.1. Historically black communities have been the subjects of healthcare. There is a long history of medical experimentation on these communities that have created distrust in western medicines delivery, as well as their active exclusion of homeopathic medicines excludes these populations. The Tuskegee Syphilis Study is most famously an abuse of black people done by medical professionals. Also, the case of Henrietta Lacks wherein her cells, without her consent or compensation were used in research.
6.2.2. Making higher education more accessible financially and in regards to the load would allow for more people of diverse backgrounds to participate in medical studies. Having more representation in the research and delivery of healthcare alters the subject position of the patient. Someone of a different experience than the homogeneous, white hetero male model, will decolonize practices and harbour a higher likelihood of trust from minority populations
6.2.2.1. Creating trust with these communities requires education on these events and the ethical implications/policies to modernly prevent them. There needs to be a discussion of historical wrongdoings and modern prevention in order to dispel fears. This is also an act of decolonization because these events were allowed to take place within a racist, eurocentric system. So discussing and widespread education can acknowledge the ways our system has enabled racist acts while emphasizing the need for representation and active decolonial practices needed in ethics.