Safe care spaces and places: Exploring urban Aboriginal families' access to preventive care

Abstract

Many Aboriginal children living in Canadian cities experience high levels of perinatal and infant health challenges. Despite efforts to reduce inequities in early childhood development, numerous urban Aboriginal families have poor access to preventive care. In this paper, we challenge conventional notions of access and use a postcolonial population health perspective to explain how access to preventive care for Aboriginal families is influenced by safety and responsiveness within care experiences. We explore an approach to care that addresses the safety of care spaces and care places. The potential of this approach for improving access to preventive services for Aboriginal families may be of considerable interest to urban preventive health policy or health system managers.