Date

3-10-2026

Department

School of Health Sciences

Degree

Doctor of Health Sciences (DHSc)

Chair

Keith Pelletier

Keywords

trust, health disparities, vulnerable patients, underserved communities, barriers, providers

Disciplines

Medicine and Health Sciences | Public Health

Abstract

The study's purpose was to understand patterns of mistrust between providers and patients in vulnerable and underserved populations. The theories guiding this study were the critical theory and the critical race theory created by Max Horkheimer as it explains how people can collaborate and actively participate in rebuilding trust. The intention is to rebuild trust and reduce health disparities in the United States. The general problem is the lack of provisional resources for underserved and vulnerable communities, resulting in the population lacking trust in healthcare administration. Speicher and Francis (2022) examined how increasing physician turnover, burnout, depression, and dissatisfaction affect healthcare resources, while Tekeste et al. (2024) analyzed the outcomes of these ongoing issues within a historical framework. Trust between patients and physicians has eroded, creating skepticism and hesitation in its place. The central research question is: What patterns of behaviors and actions are prevalent when physicians and vulnerable populations interact? It also includes a guiding research question stating: How would the underserved communities describe their relationships with their healthcare physicians? The study adopted phenomenology and the Health Belief Model; engaged with participants to investigate what patterns of behaviors they had after experiencing a health disparity. Data collection involved investigating previous research along with the experiences of each participant of the study through interviews and questionnaires.

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