Discrimination In Health And Social Care

Illness, chronic disease, and disability can be exhausting experiences for affected individuals. Between medical appointments, physical limitations, and balancing medications, there can be a lot for these patients to keep track of. While the physical components of illness can be overwhelming, it is not the only challenges these patients face. Along with the illness or disability comes an entirely new social experience for the patient. While this social change is overlooked by many, for the patient it becomes a part of everyday life. Factors of this social experience, include, but are not limited to, facing stigmas, strained social relations, and workplace discrimination. Individuals with an illness or a disability are forced to face stigmas on a daily basis. In chapter 5 of the textbook, the claim is made that individuals who are considered unhealthy are “typically considered less whole and less socially worthy than those deemed healthy” (pg. 104). According to the textbook, this stigma comes from the way we view illness, and not from any intrinsic quality of the illness itself. “When we define cancer, polio, or diabetes as illnesses, we judge the bodily changes these conditions produce to be both abnormal and undesirable rather than simply normal variations in functioning, abilities, and life expectancies” (pg. 104). As a result of these bodily changes being seen as undesirable, when an individual has physical markers of a disease or illness, such as a wheelchair or physical deformities, it can be difficult for them to be in public. They face a continuous stigma, because they are unable to escape their physical marker and can easily be recognized by others as an unhealthy individual. They stand out the second they enter a room. In chapter 6 of the textbook, it states “Those whose bodies differ in some critical way from the norm must develop a self-concept in the context of a culture that interprets bodily differences as signs of moral as well as physical inferiority. The resulting stigma leads such individuals to feel set apart from others” (pg. 140). These people begin to see themselves as others see them, which is not only different, but inferior. This can be a damaging mindset for an individual. Although strangers tend to see people with an illness or a disability differently, they are not the only ones susceptible to these kinds of illness-altered interactions. Even close …show more content…
As we discussed in class, a hiring construction company may never even consider an applicant in a wheelchair, even though they could still paint walls or work in the office, answering calls and directing the workforce. In a 2010 national survey cited in chapter 6 of the textbook, “almost half of people with disabilities reported encountering job discrimination, most often in the form of lower pay for the same work or being considered ineligible for a job because of their disability” (pg. 125). It is also less likely that ill and disabled individuals will have an employer who is willing to meet their medical needs. If they need breaks throughout the day to eat, or to take medication, the employer must consider this when hiring. It can also be hard for ill and disabled individuals to hold a full-time job once they get it, because they may have to take time off for medical appointments, days when they are in too much pain, or days when they are too sick to come to