ms. suze berkhout

St. Paul's Hospital

BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6H 3X8

Social Determinants of Health

Ethnography and Women's Experiences

Relational Autonomy and Health Care Ethics

Structural and Institutional Aspects of Health

Institutional Resources and Risks: Exploring the Social Structural Dynamics of the Health of Women in Vancouver’s Survival Sex Trade Through Clinical Ethnography

Rather than suggest that women who appear to systematically "choose" poor health are irrational or irresponsible, this study asks whether and what trade-offs exist, that make decisions leading to worse health outcomes (e.g. needle sharing, delayed treatment, non-adherence to HIV medications, leaving hospital against medical advice, failure to complete treatments) part of healthcare encounters. Social inequity—stemming from larger issues of gender inequality, racism, and poverty, and expressed as stigmatization, power differentials, and other forms of social violence—profoundly structures women's risk to HIV. In this study I examine, using ethnographic research methods, whether these same issues structure the barriers to appropriate health care that exist for women accessing services within a universal healthcare system.  By providing a way to understand the values, norms, and explicit regulations that structure the social relations of health care providers and patients within their interactions, and by connecting these to inequity in health, I hope to be able to create recommendations for policy, health provider training, and ethics that is responsive to the context of women who live in Vancouver's inner city.  This project is being conducted in collaboration with The Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, Downtown Community Health Centre, Pender Clinic, Vancouver Native Health, Providence Health, and Oak Tree Clinic at Women’s Hospital.

Assessing the Impact of Nursing Interventions on Adherence Rates for Antiretroviral Therapy among Marginalized Populations

This evaluation of an outreach (“street”) nursing program compliments my doctoral research, as it examines alternate models of health care provision for unstably housed individuals living with HIV, documenting strategies for improving adherence and health outcomes, as well as facilitating positive relationships between patients traditionally considered “hard-to-reach” and their health care providers. Using a mixed-methods approach, the evaluation consists of participant-observation of outreach nursing, in-depth interviews, and medical chart review.

“Buns in the Oven: Objectification, Surrogacy, and Women’s Autonomy”

(To appear in an upcoming issue of Social Theory and Practice)

Ethics & Law Tutor for the Faculty of Medicine (UBC) Undergraduate Program

Teaching assistant in the Department of Philosophy (UBC)