How Marital Status Bias Can Influence the Healthcare You Receive

Implicit bias toward people who are unmarried and do not have children is pervasive throughout medical education, protocol, and practice. Models of healthcare based on a presumed family structure are neither inclusive nor safe when patients have different experiences and outcomes based on marital status. Healthcare access, hospital release requirements, post-procedure care, and treatment are designed for those with specific social and familial structures and relationships. The dangers posed throughout the medical field can leave patients to navigate on their own, amidst these unrecognized barriers. How does this impact the quality of healthcare an unmarried person receives? Today's guest is Joan DelFattore, a professor emerita at the University of Delaware. She has researched, written, and spoken widely on singlist bas in medical care. She will share how this bias can significantly affect cancer treatment and the ways medical authors justify the disparate treatment of married and unmarried cancer patients who are otherwise similar. We will discuss what can be done to reduce these adverse outcomes, and the urgent changes we need now. Tune in live to learn more about what you can do to create change amidst healthcare inequity impacting our demographic.