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Using Visual and Narrative Methods to Achieve Fair Process in Clinical Care
Published on: February 16, 2011
Advancing Health Equity by Avoiding Judgmentalism and Contextualizing Care
1Deputy director of the Center of Innovation for Complex Chronic Healthcare at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center and a professor of medicine, pediatrics, and medical education at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Abstract:
This article examines the care of a Spanish-speaking woman with end-stage renal disease who returns repeatedly to the emergency department with complications related to missing hemodialysis. Her life circumstances suggest that she has been making difficult but rational decisions in an untenable situation, which is then readily resolved with the assistance of her care team. The case illustrates the pernicious effect of judgmentalism on patients from poor and marginalized communities, which exacerbates health inequity and illuminates the ethical importance of contextualizing patients' care.
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