Five Ways Health Care Can Be Better for Fat People

Abstract

Discussions about how to better accommodate fat persons' needs in health care settings tend to focus on how to reduce stigma and improve equipment (eg, scanners). While important, such efforts must address underlying ideological foundations of stigma and equipment inadequacy, including thin-centrism, a tendency to pathologize fatness, inadequate representation of fat people in health care organizational leadership, and power differentials between clinicians and health care seekers. This article describes how weight-based exclusion and oppression play out in clinical settings and practice as dysfunctional power sharing and suggests strategies for improving clinical relationships.The American Medical Association designates this journal-based CME activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ available through the AMA Ed Hub TM . Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

“Whatever I said didn’t register with her”: medical fatphobia and interactional and relational disconnect in healthcare encounters

“…We took an abductive approach to data analysis, whereby we were guided by existing frameworks but also ensured space for novel theoretical understandings to be identified in the data (Tavory and Timmermans, 2014). In particular, we were guided by pre-existing ideas of weight discrimination and bias and more specific conceptualisations of medical fatphobia (Hardy, 2023). At the same time, we retained flexibility to develop and draw in other theoretical ideas to conceptualise the interactional and relational manifestations of such prejudices.…”