Sexual minority women experience a number of physical and mental health disparities compared to their heterosexual peers. This three-paper dissertation addresses the ways in which stigma and access to care explain outcomes in sexual minority womenâs physical and mental health. The first study is a qualitative examination of sexual minority womenâs experiences of stigma, particularly related to healthcare settings. The second study is a close examination of demographic predictors of access to care among sexual minority women. The third study is an analysis of the relationship between access to care and physical and mental health outcomes among sexual minority women. Findings include in-depth information about the lived experiences of stigma within and related to healthcare settings that participants reported, identification of factors that predict access to care within this population, and models explaining a significant amount of variation in physical and mental health of sexual minority women. Together, these studies shed light on the ways in which stigma explains significant differences in wellbeing via access to adequate and effective healthcare. The findings from this dissertation can inform practice related to addressing healthcare needs of sexual minority women, policy related to health of sexual minority groups, and future research on stigma, health disparities, and access to care for sexual minority women.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-08012016-094849 |
| Date | 05 August 2016 |
| Creators | Mann, Abigail (Abbey) Kathryn |
| Contributors | Craig Anne Heflinger, Beth Shinn, Sharon Shields, Stacey Williams |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-08012016-094849/ |
| Rights | restrictone, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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