Abstract
As a result of the increasing impact of multiculturalism in healthcare, challenges arise that threaten the patient-physician relationship. My proposed research will be the first to systematically analyse the rights and duties of healthcare providers and patients who want to manifest their religious or cultural preferences in the healthcare setting. The focus will be on the display or wearing of religious or cultural symbols and clothing by healthcare providers, and on religiously or culturally inspired patient requests to be treated by a healthcare provider of the same sex/gender, race/ethnicity or religion. The first goal is to examine, under the supranational legal framework and the legal frameworks of Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, how the display or wearing of religious or cultural symbols and clothing by healthcare providers in the healthcare setting is regulated. The second goal is to examine, under the supranational legal framework and the legal frameworks of the four countries under consideration, a possible patient right to sex/gender-, race/ethnicity-, or religion-concordant care, and possible legal remedies available to healthcare providers who might feel subject to discrimination. In integrating the findings of both goals, the research will also allow us to determine the boundaries of possible discrimination of healthcare providers in Western Europe operating in a multicultural healthcare setting.
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