The patients must always come first, emphasized Milena Murray, PharmD, MSc, BCIDP, AAHIVP, associate professor at Midwestern University College of Pharmacy, who practices at the Northwestern Medicine Infectious Disease Center in Chicago.
The patients must always come first, so we must not stigmatize them, particularly when using terms like clean or infected, or even the phrase unprotected sex, emphasized Milena Murray, PharmD, MSc, BCIDP, AAHIVP, associate professor at Midwestern University College of Pharmacy, who practices at the Northwestern Medicine Infectious Disease Center in Chicago.
Transcript
How can we avoid stigmatizing patients living with HIV through the language we use?
Absolutely, and this is something I’m very passionate about. So the correct terminology would be “people living with HIV” rather than attaching the word infected. So we don’t want to say “HIV infected.” We only want to refer to “HIV positive” if we’re talking about a lab test, maybe in a research paper. Transmission is really a preferred term, “living with HIV,” so that we’re talking about the patient first. So it’s people-first language. We’re talking about the patient, and they just happen to be living with HIV. They might also happen to have diabetes or hypertension. So we’re not putting that stigmatizing piece on the actual HIV itself; it’s a disease just like any other, and we don’t want to stigmatize anybody.
Part of me wishes I could have lived through the entire ‘80s, ‘90s, because the historical perspective is so fascinating to me. And I am glad that I am practicing in the time that I’m practicing now, because we have so much more knowledge and medications. But I think it’s just really important to always see that patient first, and I try to teach my students that. I try to tweet about it. Very much so, when I see an article even published in a major journal that uses, “in HIV-infected patients,” I'm like, “Why did a reviewer not catch that?” And even with drug use, so not saying “drug abuse” or “substance abuse”; it's “use.” So not using terms like clean, because that implies that somebody was dirty.
There’s just a lot of, even with “unprotected sex.” Say “condomless sex,” because then it says, if you’re protected, then you’re safer or it sounds better.
So there’s just a lot of language that we can look at and use. And I often do just a control-find in my own writing to make sure I don’t use the word infected.
Facilitators of and Barriers to Medicaid Investment in Electronic Consultation Services
March 5th 2025In this qualitative investigation, leaders of Medicaid managed care plans were interviewed to identify facilitators of and barriers to electronic consultation for specialty care delivery.
Read More
Navigating Sport-Related Neurospine Injuries, Surgery, and Managed Care
February 25th 2025On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we speak with Arthur L. Jenkins III, MD, FACS, CEO of Jenkins NeuroSpine, to explore the intersection of advanced surgical care for sport-related neurospine injuries and managed care systems.
Listen
Varied Access: The Pharmacogenetic Testing Coverage Divide
February 18th 2025On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we speak with the author of a study published in the February 2025 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® to uncover significant differences in coverage decisions for pharmacogenetic tests across major US health insurers.
Listen
An Elevated Member Experience, More Education, and Martha Stewart at the AAD 2025 Annual Meeting
March 4th 2025Seemal R Desai, MD, FAAD, president of the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), emphasized his commitment to enhancing the upcoming 2025 annual meeting by introducing new events and expanding educational offerings to better serve and engage members.
Read More
Patients With Disabilities Report Low Access to Culturally Sensitive Care
March 3rd 2025This investigation analyzes public data on adult patients from the 2017 National Health Interview Survey, including how often they were treated with respect and could see health care providers who shared their cultural views.
Read More