Healthcare matters, almost by definition, are anxiety-ridden events. Few, if any, people go to doctors for mere enjoyment. If added to that anxiety lies further anxiety about who one loves or how one feels comfortable about their own body, the outcome of a medical transaction can be negatively impacted. Negative healthcare outcomes can lead to decreased quality of life or even length of life. Few people would wish for this, even for people who think, act, and talk differently than they do. With this aim towards health equity (a concept in the news since 2020 when it comes to race in America), Shanker provides a compilation of over two dozen pieces that address various parts of LGBTQ experiences with (mainly US) healthcare.
Unfortunately, health equity is not a reality when it comes to LGBTQ people, even in the United States. Although the biology, genetics, and medical treatments are basically the same, worse outcomes are reached because of social barriers. Over and over, this book brings to light detailed, cited data that support this general theory. All healthcare workers, who are sworn by oath to serve the general public regardless of personal views, should pay heed to these overtures. Their actions and biases likely play an outsized influence on these outcomes.
LGBTQ influencers should also pay heed in developing strategies to overcome these inequities. This book compiles firsthand stories of those impacted by healthcare inequities. These stories bring out nuances for several age groups: youth, young adults, middle-age adults, and older adults. Each of these possess unique needs, and essays deal with topics focused on each. Topics are medically focused and include a myriad of drivers of health, like tobacco (the #1 killer of LGBTQ people), cancer, HIV, eldercare, family planning, suicide, and transgender care.
Overall, this book provides a helpful compilation providing insight about socially relevant issues. This book is not about politics or power, but about human rights and health. No one deserves discrimination or ill-treatment – even if not motivated by animus – based on who they love or how they feel about their own bodies. By addressing our often unconscious, unintentional mistakes, this book can teach us how to accomplish that feat better.
Bodies and Barriers: Queer Activists on Health
Edited by Adrian Shanker
Copyright (c) 2020
PM Press
ISBN13 9781629637846
Page Count: 208
Genre: Healthcare, LGBTQ
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