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Updated: Dec 10, 2025

Using Visual and Narrative Methods to Achieve Fair Process in Clinical Care
Published on: February 16, 2011
[Asylum, health and discrimination: words matter]
Priscile Wenk-Clément1, Pascal Singy2, Patrick Bodenmann3
1Service de médecine des addictions, Département de psychiatrie, CHUV, 1011 Lausanne.
Abstract:
Our medical practice brings us to meet people from all walks of life. Some of our patients experience multiple vulnerabilities and are at greater risk of stigma and discrimination. In the field of asylum, they are often firstly designated by words reflecting their socio-administrative reality. These words are supposed to define their identity. The individual is dehumanized because reduced to an administrative status. These terms carry a denotative meaning, valuable in understanding the context in which the patient evolves ; but also a connotative meaning, which through implicit bias leads the caregiver to adopt attitudes that may be detrimental to the proper care of the patient. Words must be carefully chosen and brought in a timely manner, because words matter.
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