Identity matters: Aboriginal mothers’ experiences of accessing health care

Abstract

This paper reports on research examining how service providers' perceptions of Aboriginal women's identities contributes to their experiences of accessing preventive care during pregnancy and parenting in an urban setting. An intersectionality paradigm was adopted to conduct a secondary analysis of purposively selected transcripts of exploratory interviews with Aboriginal women. Findings indicate that how Aboriginal women identity as mothers was perceived by service providers was the focal point at which women described positive or negative experiences of accessing care. These conclusions challenge nurses' understandings of developing therapeutic relationships with marginalised populations and highlight the necessity of examining how perceptions of identity shape issues of oppression and discrimination within therapeutic relationships.

“They treated me like crap and I know it was because I was Native”: The healthcare experiences of Aboriginal peoples living in Vancouver's inner city

“…In the emerging literature, racism and stigmatization are identified as being at the forefront of Aboriginal peoples’ healthcare experiences (33–35). Much of the current research focuses on First Nations, and in particular First Nations women (32, 34, 36–38), while primarily examining hospital care (12, 25, 33).…”

The odd couple: using biomedical and intersectional approaches to address health inequities

“…Black activists and feminists, as well as Latina, queer, post-colonial, and Indigenous scholars have all sought to articulate the complex factors and processes that shape human lives [65–68]. Intersectionality is a promising resource to advance health inequities research [69–72].…”

Cultural adaptations to augment health and mental health services: a systematic review

“…In addition to specific cultural orientations, some providers have also attempted to be more aware of, and responsive to, past traumatization of whole populations such as African Americans in the U.S. [13] and indigenous peoples in Canada and the U.S. [10]. In some cases, the most appropriate goal may be to build trust from the moment of the service user’s introduction to service providers or their organizations, including for example, developing more welcoming physical surroundings.…”

“…In California and Chicago studies, African Americans were less likely than whites to feel that they had received high-quality care or had their medical needs met [5, 9]. In Canada, Van Herk, Smith, and Andrew found Aboriginal mothers in an urban center felt disrespected by mainstream care providers [10]. Such differences have been associated with negative health and mental health outcomes including, for example, underuse of services [11, 12] and failure to comply with physician advice [13].…”