Inequalities And Disparities In Health Care

Throughout history it is evident that inequalities and disparities are part of health systems and society. Even after all the success of activism, such as the work from the human rights movement and campaign, inequalities and disparities are still evident today. Especially within minority groups, such as LGBTQ* (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) individuals – this is not to say that LGBTQ are the only categories when it comes to sexual orientation and gender identities, thus it is followed by a * – and racial groups. Furthermore, it is evident that within minority groups there are specific micro-level groups that experience unique and sometimes even greater amount of inequalities and disparities. For example, the micro-level group …show more content…
The Planned Parenthood handbook expresses how transgender individuals often find themselves educating health providers and staff about transgender issues. Whether it is explaining their identity, specific transgender care and situations, or health concerns that are usually only relatable to transgender individuals, it can be tiring and unfair for the patient (Providing Transgender-Inclusive Healthcare Services, 2006). The fact that transgender individuals often find themselves educating their own health providers, demonstrates how health care systems lack the right training and education when it comes to transgender issues. The journal, "Care of the Transgender Patient: A Survey of Gynecologists’ Current Knowledge and Practice" provides a study where more than 100 gynecology and obstetrics providers took an anonymous survey, which evaluated and analyzed their education about transgender individuals. The results from the surveys showed that more than half of the providers were not trained on the care of transgender individuals (Unger, 2015). If health providers are not aware of transgender issues, it can lead to not only discrimination, but also incapability to provide the right health service to transgender individuals. For example, the journal "Care of the Transgender Patient..." also states that 59.4 …show more content…
Such violence is driven by many reasons, including religion and individuals ' personal reasons, but these subjects are outside the focus of this paper. This papers ' main focus is the types of social disparities and inequalities, including intentional violence, and their effects on transgender individuals. For example, one of the main types of intentional violence that transgender individuals face, is hate acts. According to the article, "Transgender and Transsexual Identities: The Next Strange Fruit..." transgender individuals face hate crimes mainly in social settings. Some of the many hate crimes noted in the article, are verbal abuse, being mugged, being threatened, physical abuse, and even extreme violence such as rape and murder. The article also includes specific examples of intentional violence, including a situation where a transgender individual was told in public that they should be killed for being transgender (Kidd & Witten, 2007). Many people would argue that these acts are not any different from any other intentional violent crimes, that non transgender individuals face; which is true to an extent point. Non transgender individuals do also experience such violent acts, but there is a specific social disparity between their situation and a transgender individual put