As Long As it Lasts - Older Substance Users, Brittle Ties and Danish Health Care

Jonas Strandholdt Bach*, Bagga Bjerge, Natasja Eilerskov, Camilla Hoffmann Merrild

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Abstract

In this article, we examine a group of older marginalized substance-using citizens and their relations to Danish health care. We offer empirical examples collected through ethnographic fieldwork, about how they handle their health situation and encounters with the Danish healthcare system. Analytically, we particularly draw on the concept of disposable ties, and suggest the term “brittle ties” to nuance the term and examine how perceived individual autonomy is weighted against health care trajectories and how these citizens often prefer to fend for themselves or lean on provisional networks rather than enter into health care trajectories and follow-up treatment.
Original languageEnglish
JournalMedical Anthropology
Volume43
Issue number4
Pages (from-to)324-337
Number of pages14
ISSN0145-9740
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024

Keywords

  • Access to health care
  • Denmark
  • inequality in health
  • marginalization
  • substance use

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