Abstract
BackgroundThis article considers how health services access and equity documents represent the problem of access to health services and what the effects of that representation might be for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities. We conducted a critical discourse analysis on selected access and equity documents using a gender-based diversity framework as determined by two objectives: 1) to identify dominant and counter discourses in health services access and equity literature; and 2) to develop understanding of how particular discourses impact the inclusion, or not, of LGBT communities in health services access and equity frameworks.The analysis was conducted in response to public health and clinical research that has documented barriers to health services access for LGBT communities including institutionalized heterosexism, biphobia, and transphobia, invisibility and lack of health provider knowledge and comfort. The analysis was also conducted as the first step of exploring LGBT access issues in home care services for LGBT populations in Ontario, Canada.MethodsA critical discourse analysis of selected health services access and equity documents, using a gender-based diversity framework, was conducted to offer insight into dominant and counter discourses underlying health services access and equity initiatives.ResultsA continuum of five discourses that characterize the health services access and equity literature were identified including two dominant discourses: 1) multicultural discourse, and 2) diversity discourse; and three counter discourses: 3) social determinants of health (SDOH) discourse; 4) anti-oppression (AOP) discourse; and 5) citizen/social rights discourse.ConclusionsThe analysis offers a continuum of dominant and counter discourses on health services access and equity as determined from a gender-based diversity perspective. The continuum of discourses offers a framework to identify and redress organizational assumptions about, and ideological commitments to, sexual and gender diversity and health services access and equity. Thus, the continuum of discourses may serve as an important element of a health care organization's access and equity framework for the evaluation of access to good quality care for diverse LGBT populations. More specfically, the analysis offers four important points of consideration in relation to the development of a health services access and equity framework.
Highlights
This article considers how health services access and equity documents represent the problem of access to health services and what the effects of that representation might be for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities
A total of twenty-four (24) health services access and equity documents that address the provision of institutionally-based health care were selected for review and analysis
Two (2) documents constitute government documents that focus on LGBT inclusion in multi-sector policy and planning broadly while serving as integral guiding documents for health services access policy and planning. While these documents may not appear to adhere with the search strategy focus on the health services sector access and equity literature adopted for this analysis, their inclusion is important given their multi-sectoral purpose and potential to influence and guide regional and organizational health services access and equity frameworks
Summary
This article considers how health services access and equity documents represent the problem of access to health services and what the effects of that representation might be for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities. Public health and clinical researchers across a number of countries agree that there is strong evidence to show that as a population, LGBT people Over the last 15 years, a growing body of Canadian research has focused on barriers to equitable access to health and social services for LGBT people. This literature represents an articulation of LGBT communities’ health issues that has emerged from several distinct, but interrelated sources. Professional bodies such as the Canadian Professional Association for Transgender Health (CPATH) and the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario [RNAO] have taken leadership roles to raise awareness about LGBT access to care
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