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Guided Concept Map #11 - Coggle Diagram
Guided Concept Map #11
Definition of Structural Ableism
System of historical and current policies, institutions, and norms
Devalues and disadvantages disabled, neurodivergent, chronically ill, and/or mad people
Intersects with racism, sexism, transphobia, capitalism, colonialism, audism, and sanism
Limits access to resources, autonomy, justice, and recognition
Pathways connecting structural Ableism to health
Upstream Pathways
Lack of inclusive policies, subminimum wages, marriage restrictions, etc.
Stereotyping as heroes/victims/villains
Underrepresentation of disabled professionals
Focuses on curing vs. improving quality of life
Historical abuses, like forced sterilization, segregation
Proximate Pathways
Inaccessible facilities, untrained providers, and lack of representation
Barriers in housing, education and employment
Higher rates of abuse and adverse experiences
Incarceration, police brutality, war-related harm
Physiological & Behavioral Processes
Chronic stress, minority stress, trauma
Coping via health-risk behaviors, like substance use
Why this matters?
Centering disabled voices leads to better policy and health outcomes
Structural ableism leads to:
Health disparities
Inequitable resource access
Lack of autonomy and justice
Principles for researching structural Ableism
Interrogate healthcare's complicity
Public health isn’t neutral, it has upheld ableism
84% of healthcare providers hold implicit bias against disabled people
What we need to do is listen to disabled staff and change internal cultures
Resist the biomedical model as universal
Challenge metrics like "quality-adjusted life years" that undervalue disabled lives
Use social models, disability justice frameworks
Acknowledge cross-cultural differences
Indigenous, global south communities may define disability differently
Western frameworks can erase Indigenous knowledge and context
Center disabled people in research
Disabled scholars are underfunded, underrepresented
Distribute resources equitably
Research must be accessible and benefit disabled communities directly