“That could have killed me.” How anti-fat bias can be dangerous, even deadly, for heavier patients
We live in a society that values and treats people differently based on their body size. Such weight stigma can affect a person’s relationships, career opportunities, and daily life. And when this bias infiltrates a doctor’s office or hospital, it puts heavier patients at risk. Discrimination of any...
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| Format: | Thesis |
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2022
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/139976 |
| _version_ | 1826200647876214784 |
|---|---|
| author | Harper, Kelso |
| author2 | De Chant, Tim |
| author_facet | De Chant, Tim Harper, Kelso |
| author_sort | Harper, Kelso |
| collection | MIT |
| description | We live in a society that values and treats people differently based on their body size. Such weight stigma can affect a person’s relationships, career opportunities, and daily life. And when this bias infiltrates a doctor’s office or hospital, it puts heavier patients at risk. Discrimination of any kind is bad for a person’s mental and physical health, but weight discrimination in medicine can also discourage patients from seeking care, exclude them from certain treatments, and lead to dangerous misdiagnoses. Drawing from the knowledge of a dozen experts and the experiences of a dozen patients, this thesis explores the myriad ways that medical weight bias can gravely impact the health and well-being of larger-bodied people. It also asks: where do we go from here? |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:39:41Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | mit-1721.1/139976 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:39:41Z |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1399762022-02-08T03:40:58Z “That could have killed me.” How anti-fat bias can be dangerous, even deadly, for heavier patients Harper, Kelso De Chant, Tim Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Graduate Program in Science Writing We live in a society that values and treats people differently based on their body size. Such weight stigma can affect a person’s relationships, career opportunities, and daily life. And when this bias infiltrates a doctor’s office or hospital, it puts heavier patients at risk. Discrimination of any kind is bad for a person’s mental and physical health, but weight discrimination in medicine can also discourage patients from seeking care, exclude them from certain treatments, and lead to dangerous misdiagnoses. Drawing from the knowledge of a dozen experts and the experiences of a dozen patients, this thesis explores the myriad ways that medical weight bias can gravely impact the health and well-being of larger-bodied people. It also asks: where do we go from here? S.M. 2022-02-07T15:16:40Z 2022-02-07T15:16:40Z 2021-09 2021-07-06T15:14:49.425Z Thesis https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/139976 In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted Copyright retained by author(s) https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/ application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| spellingShingle | Harper, Kelso “That could have killed me.” How anti-fat bias can be dangerous, even deadly, for heavier patients |
| title | “That could have killed me.” How anti-fat bias can be dangerous, even deadly, for heavier patients |
| title_full | “That could have killed me.” How anti-fat bias can be dangerous, even deadly, for heavier patients |
| title_fullStr | “That could have killed me.” How anti-fat bias can be dangerous, even deadly, for heavier patients |
| title_full_unstemmed | “That could have killed me.” How anti-fat bias can be dangerous, even deadly, for heavier patients |
| title_short | “That could have killed me.” How anti-fat bias can be dangerous, even deadly, for heavier patients |
| title_sort | that could have killed me how anti fat bias can be dangerous even deadly for heavier patients |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/139976 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT harperkelso thatcouldhavekilledmehowantifatbiascanbedangerousevendeadlyforheavierpatients |