STEGER, Florian (Ed.), RAMŠAK, Mojca (Ed.), ŁUKÓW, Paweł (Ed.), MUZUR, Amir (Ed.). Equal Access to Healthcare in Socially Diverse Societies. 1. Auf. Baden-Baden: Verlag Karl Alber, 2023, 290. Angewandte Ethik, Bd. 8. ISBN 978-3-495-99788-8. https://www.nomos-elibrary.de/10.5771/9783495997895.pdf... (original) (raw)

Equal access to healthcare for minority groups is one of the major challenges in modern healthcare systems. With regard to various groups that constitute our societies, consideration of their different needs, situations, values, and goals can lead to improvement of their health and contribute to a community, in which individuals can flourish. On the other hand, discrimination in healthcare can lead to further segregation, stigmatization, and exclusion. Race, ethnicity, culture, or sexual orientation in their pluralism are only a few of characteristics of modern societies and have a tremendous impact on participation in medicine and healthcare. They play a role in formulation of healthcare needs, in patient-physician relationship and communication, and in perception of health and illness. The characteristics that constitute diversity can be visible, e.g., race, age or gender, or hidden, e.g., religion, convictions, and sexual orientation, but in many situations they influence the way, in which healthcare is provided. Inadequate legal entitlements, stigmatization, racism, or prejudicial and discriminatory behavior can negatively affect the trust and confidence in healthcare system and lead to negative health out comes. Therefore, reduction of health inequalities for minority and vul nerable groups requires careful consideration. With the changing composition of societies, there is growing consideration of questions of social diversity and equal access to healthcare for minority groups. Despite raised attention to this topic in recent years, there are still debates regarding implementation of healthcare equality in practice. Therefore, the aim of the contributions presented in this volume is a better understanding of the phenomenon of inequity and discrimination of minority groups in accessing healthcare from interdisciplinary perspectives of medical ethics, public health, and law. Such an understanding can lead to the determination of minorities’ special needs concerning healthcare and barriers precluding them from benefitting from existing opportunities.