Living with pain: Narrating an ideological position toward healthcare

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate how individual experiences shape ideologies toward healthcare. To demonstrate, we analyze conversational narrative data about health and healthcare between a dominant Spanish-speaking Mexican immigrant woman, Maria, and the researcher, Caroline. Findings demonstrate that Maria’s narrative about her experience receiving healthcare for a knee injury reveals her ideological stance toward healthcare in both the United States and Mexico. In particular, the narrative reflects an ideological position in which medical providers neglect patients and strip them of agency in making choices about their own healthcare. Cultural competence, then, is not only about gaining knowledge of patients’ cultural groups but also about understanding how patients’ life experiences shape them as autonomous individuals with socially constructed attitudes toward healthcare.