Pathways of disability-based discrimination in cancer care

Sakellariou, Dikaios ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2668-2834, Anstey, Sally ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2295-3761, Polack, Sarah, Rotarou, Elena, Warren, Narelle, Gaze, Sarah ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6419-3732 and Courtenay, Molly ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8639-5917 2020. Pathways of disability-based discrimination in cancer care. Critical Public Health 30 (5) , pp. 533-543. 10.1080/09581596.2019.1648762

PDF - Accepted Post-Print Version Download (360kB)

Abstract

Disabled people often report poorer health outcomes and increased barriers to accessing healthcare, compared to the general population. Our aim was to foreground lived experiences of disability-based discrimination, often indirect, and identify pathways through which this operates. We used a case study approach to explore the experiences of people with physical impairment accessing cancer services in England and Wales, from screening to therapy and follow-up, and investigated the complex and interacting nature of factors that affect their experiences. Participants described how they had to navigate a healthcare system that often was not responsive to their needs, leading to poor experiences of care. The barriers experienced by the participants operated at different levels. We identify three specific pathways through which discrimination is embodied: normativity expectations, lack of disability-awareness, and discontinuity of care. Our study is of particular importance to health professionals and policy makers, since there is limited evidence available on how people with physical impairment in the United Kingdom experience access to cancer care services. We argue that in order to advance the conversation on healthcare access for disabled people, it is important to reconceptualise the observed barriers as disability-based discrimination, reflective of broader structural processes, and to analyse in depth the pathways through which this discrimination operates.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Healthcare Sciences
Subjects:	R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
ISSN:	0958-1596
Funders:	Tenovus Cancer Care
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	22 July 2019
Date of Acceptance:	19 July 2019
Last Modified:	11 Nov 2024 00:00
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/124370

Citation Data

Cited 4 times in Scopus. View in Scopus. Powered By Scopus® Data

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item