What is intersectionality and why is it important?

Summary

In this insightful discussion, Dr. Saroo Sharda, Associate Dean of Equity and Inclusion, elucidates the concept of intersectionality, a framework for understanding the complex, overlapping patterns of discrimination that arise from multiple intersecting identities. Highlighting its significance in healthcare, Dr. Sharda emphasizes the necessity of an intersectional lens to prevent inadvertently perpetuating inequities in clinical settings, research, and education. Real-world examples, such as disparities in healthcare outcomes for racialized individuals and the impact of COVID-19 on diverse communities, underscore the importance of culturally safe and humble interventions.

Takeaways

• 🎓 Dr. Saroo Sharda is the associate dean of Equity and Inclusion at the Faculty of Health Sciences.
• 🔍 Intersectionality is a concept introduced by Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw.
• 🧩 Intersectionality examines how multiple identities (e.g., race, gender, disability) overlap and produce complex discrimination patterns.
• 👩🏽‍🦽 A person’s various identities, such as being a woman and racialized, cannot be separated when considering discrimination.
• 📊 Not using an intersectional lens in healthcare can perpetuate inequities towards different groups.
• 🏥 Intersectionality should be considered in clinical settings, research, and education to address health outcomes effectively.
• 👶 When examining healthcare outcomes, such as in childbirth, intersectionality reveals disparities among different racial and ethnic groups.
• 🌍 COVID-19 data during the pandemic showed higher infection and mortality rates in ethnoculturally diverse areas, highlighting intersectional impacts.
• 🔑 Social determinants of health, including racism, are crucial root causes affecting health outcomes.
• 🤝 Healthcare interventions must be data-driven, culturally safe, and incorporate cultural humility to address intersectional issues effectively.

Q & A

Who is Dr. Saroo Sharda?

Dr. Saroo Sharda is the Associate Dean of Equity and Inclusion at the Faculty of Health Sciences.

What is intersectionality?

Intersectionality is a theory or framework that helps understand how different identities (such as race, gender, and disability) intersect and produce overlapping patterns of discrimination.

Who coined the term 'intersectionality'?

The term 'intersectionality' was first coined by Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw.

Why is it important to use an intersectional lens when addressing injustices?

Without an intersectional lens, efforts to address injustices towards one group might inadvertently perpetuate inequities towards another group.

Can you give an example of how intersectional identities might intersect?

If a woman is also racialized, or if a person identifies as queer and also has a disability, these identities cannot be separated and they intersect to produce unique experiences of discrimination.

How does intersectionality impact healthcare outcomes?

Intersectionality impacts healthcare outcomes by revealing disparities within groups. For instance, Indigenous, Black, and racialized people giving birth may have different healthcare outcomes compared to the general population.

What did the COVID-19 data reveal about ethno-culturally diverse areas?

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, people living in more ethno-culturally diverse areas were three times more likely to contract COVID-19 and two to four times more likely to end up in the ICU or die from the virus.

What are the social determinants of health, and how is racism a key factor?

Social determinants of health are conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age. Racism is a key social determinant that influences health outcomes by creating disparities and inequities.

Why is it important to consider intersectionality in clinical settings, research, and education?

Considering intersectionality is crucial in these areas to ensure that interventions are effective, culturally safe, and address the specific needs of diverse populations, thus avoiding the perpetuation of inequities.

How can healthcare interventions be made more effective for diverse populations?

Healthcare interventions can be more effective by being based on comprehensive data, incorporating cultural safety, and fostering cultural humility.

Outlines

00:00

🎤 Introduction and Welcome

The interviewer introduces Dr. Saroo Sharda, the Associate Dean of Equity and Inclusion at the Faculty of Health Sciences. They exchange greetings, and the interviewer begins by asking Dr. Sharda to explain the concept of intersectionality.

🔍 Explaining Intersectionality

Dr. Sharda explains that intersectionality is a theory or framework that helps understand how overlapping identities can create complex patterns of discrimination. She gives examples such as a woman being both racialized and living with a disability, and stresses that these identities cannot be separated. She highlights the importance of considering intersectionality to avoid perpetuating inequities.

⚕️ Importance in Healthcare and Other Domains

Dr. Sharda emphasizes the significance of intersectionality in healthcare, research, and education. She explains that without an intersectional approach, interventions might fail to address the needs of all groups. She provides examples, such as disparities in healthcare outcomes among different racialized groups during childbirth and the COVID-19 pandemic, to illustrate the need for culturally safe and humble healthcare interventions.

📊 Data and Health Outcomes

Discussing healthcare outcomes, Dr. Sharda notes that overall data can be misleading if not examined through an intersectional lens. For instance, outcomes for Indigenous, Black, and racialized people giving birth differ significantly from the general population. Similarly, during COVID-19, those in ethnoculturally diverse areas were disproportionately affected. She links these disparities to social determinants of health, particularly racism.

🩺 Call to Action for Clinicians

Dr. Sharda calls on clinicians to base healthcare interventions on data that accounts for intersectionality. She stresses the need for culturally safe practices and cultural humility in addressing health inequities. The interviewer thanks Dr. Sharda for her insights and expertise, reiterating the importance of intersectionality in all clinical, research, and educational activities.

Keywords

💡Intersectionality

Intersectionality is a framework coined by Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw. It explains how different identities, such as race, gender, and disability, intersect and create overlapping systems of discrimination or disadvantage. In the video, Dr. Sharda uses this concept to highlight how healthcare outcomes can differ significantly when viewed through an intersectional lens, revealing more nuanced patterns of inequity.

💡Discrimination

Discrimination refers to the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, often based on race, age, gender, or disability. Dr. Sharda discusses how intersecting identities can produce complex patterns of discrimination, necessitating an intersectional approach to address these issues effectively in healthcare and other areas.

💡Healthcare outcomes

Healthcare outcomes are the results of medical care and services provided to individuals or populations. Dr. Sharda emphasizes the importance of examining these outcomes through an intersectional lens to uncover disparities among different groups, such as racialized women or those with disabilities, which might be overlooked otherwise.

💡Social determinants of health

Social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age, which can affect their health outcomes. Racism is highlighted as a key social determinant by Dr. Sharda, who explains how it contributes to disparities in healthcare, such as the higher likelihood of severe COVID-19 outcomes in ethnoculturally diverse areas.

💡Cultural humility

Cultural humility is an approach to healthcare that involves recognizing and respecting the cultural identities of patients while being aware of one's own biases. Dr. Sharda underscores its importance in developing healthcare interventions that are sensitive to the needs of diverse populations.

💡Racism

Racism is discrimination or prejudice based on race. Dr. Sharda identifies it as a crucial social determinant of health, affecting healthcare outcomes. For example, racialized individuals experienced worse COVID-19 outcomes, underscoring the need for an intersectional approach in healthcare.

💡Kimberlé Crenshaw

Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw is a scholar who coined the term 'intersectionality.' Her work provides the foundational framework that Dr. Sharda references to explain how overlapping identities can lead to complex forms of discrimination, especially in healthcare settings.

💡Equity

Equity involves fairness and justice in treatment, opportunities, and outcomes. In the context of the video, Dr. Sharda stresses the need for equity in healthcare to address the unique challenges faced by individuals with intersecting identities, ensuring they receive appropriate and effective care.

💡Culturally safe

Culturally safe healthcare practices ensure that services are respectful of and relevant to the cultural identities of patients. Dr. Sharda argues for the necessity of culturally safe interventions to effectively address health disparities among diverse populations.

💡COVID-19

COVID-19 is the disease caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Dr. Sharda uses data from the pandemic to illustrate how intersectionality reveals disparities in health outcomes, with ethnoculturally diverse communities facing higher risks of infection and severe illness.

💡Ethnoculturally diverse areas

Ethnoculturally diverse areas are regions with a high degree of ethnic and cultural diversity. Dr. Sharda cites data showing that individuals in these areas had higher rates of COVID-19 infection and more severe outcomes, highlighting the impact of social determinants of health.

💡Gender equity

Gender equity involves fairness and equality between genders in opportunities, resources, and outcomes. The Hamilton Charter, mentioned by Dr. Sharda, promotes gender equity in healthcare, emphasizing the need to consider intersectional factors to achieve true equity.

💡Indigenous, Black, racialized people

These terms refer to specific racial and ethnic groups that often face systemic discrimination and health disparities. Dr. Sharda discusses how healthcare outcomes for these groups, especially in contexts like childbirth, differ significantly when analyzed through an intersectional lens.

💡Hamilton Charter

The Hamilton Charter is a document that promotes gender equity in healthcare. Dr. Sharda mentions it to highlight the importance of intersectionality, as the charter acknowledges the necessity of addressing multiple, overlapping identities to combat discrimination and promote equity.

Highlights

Dr. Saroo Sharda discusses intersectionality in the context of the Hamilton Charter for promoting gender equity in healthcare.

Intersectionality was first coined by Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw, emphasizing the overlapping patterns of discrimination.

Intersectionality allows us to understand the complexity of discrimination when multiple identities intersect.

The importance of an intersectional lens in addressing injustice without inadvertently perpetuating inequities.

The need for intersectionality in clinical settings, research, and education to ensure equitable healthcare outcomes.

Healthcare outcomes for women and people who give birth may mask disparities within racialized groups.

COVID-19 data reveals disparities in infection rates and health outcomes related to ethno-cultural diversity.

The significance of social determinants of health, with racism being a key factor.

The necessity for healthcare interventions to be based on data and incorporate cultural safety and humility.

Dr. Sharda emphasizes the importance of including intersectionality in all clinical, research, and educational activities.

The transcript highlights the practical applications of intersectionality in promoting health equity.

The discussion underscores the value of an intersectional approach in understanding and addressing healthcare disparities.

Dr. Sharda's expertise provides insights into the role of intersectionality in healthcare policy and practice.

The transcript serves as a guide for healthcare professionals to implement intersectional strategies in their work.

The conversation with Dr. Sharda illuminates the multifaceted nature of discrimination and its impact on health outcomes.

The importance of recognizing and addressing the interconnectedness of identities in healthcare to prevent further inequities.

The transcript concludes with a call to action for healthcare professionals to embrace intersectionality in their practices.

Transcripts

I'm here today with

Dr. Saroo Sharda,

associate dean of Equity and Inclusion at the Faculty of Health Sciences.

Welcome, Dr. Sharda.

Thank you so much for joining me today.

Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Now, intersectionality is a term that I believe many of us will have heard.

Maybe many of us do not fully understand.

Can you explain to us what intersectionality means?

Yes, and this is a great question, because this term actually

appears in the Hamilton Charter for promoting gender equity in healthcare.

And the term actually was first coined by Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw.

And what intersectionality is theory or frame work

that allows us to understand that when people or groups

of people have more than one identity,

that those identities can come together in ways that can actually produce

complicated, overlapping patterns of discrimination.

For example, if a woman is a woman and is also racialized

and those two things cannot be separated.

If a woman is a woman and also lives with a disability, those two things cannot be separated.

If somebody identifies as queer

and also has a disability, those two things cannot be separated.

Why this is important is because if we don't take an intersectional lens

when we're thinking about events or movements or healthcare interventions,

that can actually mean that when we aim to address injustice towards one group,

we inadvertently end up perpetuating inequities towards another group.

Why is it important that we think about intersectionality

not only in our clinical setting, but in the other domains

that are so important to us, such as research and education?

If we think about healthcare outcomes and we look at healthcare outcomes

for groups of people, for example women and people who give birth,

we might look at that group of people and look at what we know

about those healthcare outcomes and think we're actually doing quite well.

But if we break that down and look a little bit more carefully

and intentionally, for example, that the outcomes within that group

for Indigenous, black, racialized people

giving birth, we actually see a much different picture.

Similarly, if we look at COVID-19 data from the height of the pandemic,

when we look at the Ontario public health data, we know that

if you lived in a more ethno culturally diverse area,

you were three times more likely to get COVID 19.

And in fact, you were two times to four times as likely

to end up in the ICU or even to die from COVID-19.

And so all that links us back to the really important root causes

of social determinants of health, of which racism is a key one.

And of course, as clinicians, we then need to understand

when we have health care interventions that need to address this.

They need to be based on that data and they need to be culturally safe

and have cultural humility built into them.

Well, thank you very much, Dr. Sharda.

That explains very well how important it is for us to include

this in all the activities we do clinically in research and education.

I really do appreciate you sharing your expertise with us today. Thank you.

Thank you.