Transgender and non-binary individuals face overt discrimination and outright hostility in daily life, and the health care setting is not always a safe, welcoming place for these patients. This collective stigmatizing, invalidating, and traumatizing experience contributes to poor health outcomes …
LGBTQIA+ patients struggle to engage with a health care system that is endlessly complex and almost completely unresponsive to their unique health needs. Medical students, student pharmacists, PA students, and nursing students receive very few LGBTQ+ curricular hours and report …
Patients with disabilities, especially those with complex social determinants of health, are underserved by a health care system they find unwelcoming and difficult to navigate. Most doctors, nurses, and patient-facing staff do not receive disability-related training, and many lack confidence …
Patients from aging populations face a number of challenges when accessing health care, including overt negative bias toward older adults, complex and time-consuming care, and the lack of thorough integration into e-health systems. Patients who find themselves at the intersection …
Hispanic/Latino patients do not enjoy equitable access to health care treatment or resources. Systemic racism has severely limited Hispanic/Latino patients’ opportunities to productively engage with the health care system, and the results are negative patient experiences and outcomes. Hispanic/Latino patients …
Rural-residing patients encounter roadblocks when they need health care. These patients likely live a considerable geographic distance from providers and facilities, the facilities themselves are far from one another, and there is a shortage of clinicians. Providers who serve in …
Indigenous/American Indian/Alaska Native patients face considerable obstacles when accessing health care, resulting in lower life expectancy, increased mortality from preventable chronic diseases, and the highest rate of kidney failure from diabetes of any race. These disparities are rooted in historical …
The United States healthcare system was not designed with Black/African American patients in mind, nor has it adapted to serve the unique health-related social needs of Black people. Historic and modern racist practices, from discriminatory laws and policies to lack …
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) defines health-related social needs (HRSN) as unmet, adverse social and economic conditions that contribute to a patient’s poor health and affect their ability to maintain well-being. Unemployment, food insecurity, and lack of …