Not the Usual Suspects: Addressing Layers of Vulnerability. (30th May 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Luna, Florencia; Vanderpoel, Sheryl; Dawson, Angus; Ballantyne, Angela
• Is Part Of: Bioethics. Volume 27:Number 6(2013:Jul.)
• Page Start: 325
• Page End: 332
• Publication Date: 2013-05-30
• Subjects: Bioethics -- Periodicals; 174.957
• DOI: 10.1111/bioe.12035
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0269-9702

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>This paper challenges the traditional account of vulnerability in healthcare which conceptualizes vulnerability as a list of identifiable subpopulations. This list of 'usual suspects', focusing on groups from lower resource settings, is a narrow account of vulnerability. In this article we argue that in certain circumstances middle‐class individuals can be also rendered vulnerable. We propose a relational and layered account of vulnerability and explore this concept using the case study of cord blood (CB) banking.</p> <p>In the first section, two different approaches to 'vulnerability' are contrasted: categorical versus layered. In the second section, we describe CB banking and present a case study of CB banking in Argentina. We examine the types of pressure that middle‐class pregnant women feel when considering CB collection and storage. In section three, we use the CB banking case study to critique the categorical approach to vulnerability: this model is unable to account for the ways in which these women are vulnerable. A layered account of vulnerability identifies several ways in which middle‐class women are vulnerable. Finally, by utilizing the layered approach, this paper suggests how public health policies could be designed to overcome vulnerabilities.</p> </abstract>