Exploring Discrimination in American Health Care System: Perceptions/Experiences of Older Iranian Immigrants
Exploring Discrimination in American Health Care System: Perceptions/Experiences of Older Iranian Immigrants
复制标题
DOI：
10.1007/s10823-012-9168-z
复制
发表时间：
2012-09-01
影响因子：
2
通讯作者：
Martin, Shadi Sahami
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Martin, Shadi Sahami
美国人口比以往任何时候都更加老龄化和多样化。老年移民和少数族裔被发现存在医疗保健差距。国家卫生研究所(2002年)确定歧视是造成移民和少数群体健康差距的因素之一。这项定性的现象学研究的目的是探索伊朗老年移民在遇到美国医疗保健系统时对歧视的看法/经历。对15名50岁后移民到美国的伊朗人进行了深入访谈。这项研究得出了以下主要主题：1)美国医生不歧视；2)美国和伊朗医疗体系中的阶级歧视；3)治病不治本。总的来说，参与者报告说，他们在与美国医疗保健系统的接触中没有感觉到/经历过歧视。事实上，大多数参与者都报告了对美国医疗保健提供者的高度积极印象。一些参与者声称，语言障碍可能保护了他们，使他们无法认识到可能的歧视，而另一些人则报告说，这种没有被察觉到的歧视可能是美国医疗服务提供者将患者视为“疾病”而不是整个人的一种功能。
The United States population is older and more diverse than ever before. Older Immigrant and minorities have been found to suffer from health care disparities. The National Institute of Health (2002) has identified discrimination as one of the factors that contributes to health disparities among immigrants and minority populations. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore older Iranian immigrants' perceptions/experiences of discrimination in their encounter with the American health care system. In depth interviews were conducted with 15 Iranians who had immigrated to the United States after the age of 50. The following major themes emerged from the study: 1) "American doctors don't discriminate", 2) class discrimination in American and Iranian health care system and 3) treating the illness and not the whole person. In general the participants reported that they did not perceive/experience discrimination in their encounter with the American health care system. In fact majority of the participants reported highly positive impressions of American health care providers. Some participants claimed that language barriers may have protected them from recognizing possible discriminations, while others reported that this absence of perceived discrimination may be a function of American provider's perception of a patient as an "illness" and not a whole person.