Discrimination Exposure Based on Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation of Veterans Affairs Health Administration Patients

J Health Care Poor Underserved. 2022;33(2):714-725. doi: 10.1353/hpu.2022.0058.

Abstract

This study contributes to research and policy aimed at reducing population-level health disparities by applying a Feminist Standpoint approach to the examination of rates and correlates of health care discrimination among patients at the Veterans Affairs Health Administration (VHA). Drawing on quality improvement survey data (N = 806) collected within the VHA in 2018, we document and describe rates of both direct and vicarious past-year exposure to health care discrimination disaggregated by race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender. The analysis of within- and between-group rates and correlates of health care discrimination exposure reveals important subgroup-specific patterns that prior studies using aggregate or non-stratified data have masked. The findings have important research, theory, and policy implications and support advocacy for an intersectional approach to documenting and addressing health care discrimination.

MeSH terms

  • Ethnicity
  • Female
  • Gender Identity
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Sexual Behavior
  • United States
  • United States Department of Veterans Affairs*
  • Veterans Health
  • Veterans*