Creating a tool to understand university students' experiences regarding inappropriate, disrespectful, and coercive (IDC) healthcare interactions

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to develop a survey tool to capture inappropriate, disrespectful, and coercive (IDC) interactions with healthcare providers among a diverse sample of university students. Participants: Participants were university students at one large Midwestern public university. Methods: An exploratory qualitative approach was used to create a survey tool to capture IDC interactions. Results: In Phase I, 9 focus group discussions (FGDs) and 3 individual interviews were conducted with a total of 38 participants. In Phase II, 18 participants completed cognitive interviews. Themes across all FGDs included: (1) communication; (2) respect for identity; (3) institutional practices; (4) power imbalances; and (5) lack of patient education and empowerment. Queer participants discussed unique considerations of how queer identity influences one's IDC healthcare experiences. Conclusions: This study resulted in the development of a 64-70 item tool, the IDC Survey, to measure the prevalence and characteristics of IDC healthcare interactions.

Keywords: Abuse; college students; healthcare; university students.