Suffering, illness experience and institutional abuse in health care: An exploratory review of the empirical evidence

Abstract

Aim 

To explore the empirical literature on institutional abuse in health care delivery and its relationship with the suffering and illness experience of health service users.  

Method  
An exploratory review was conducted in PubMed, including articles between 1970 and 2024, selected based on the title and abstract through an independent peer review, based on criteria of thematic relevance and congruence with the research question. Finally, 16 articles were included in the analysis.  
Results  
The studies analyzed show practices of discrimination, abuse, neglect, and exclusion in different institutional spaces of the health system, which differentially affect historically marginalized populations. A conceptual heterogeneity was identified in the use of the terms of institutional abuse.  
Conclusions  
The analysis carried out suggests that the suffering that people endure in the search for health care constitutes a social and relational experience linked to structural and ideological elements reproduced in the institutional framework that demonstrate the need for critical approaches and human rights in scientific production.