Identifying And Examining Access And Barriers To Healthcare For The Transgender And Nonbinary Individual

<p>The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of transgender and nonbinary (TNB) individuals related to their access to basic healthcare. Currently, the TNB population is experiencing disparities in accessing general and preventative healthcare in comparison to their cisgendered counterparts. I developed the research questions to explore how TNB individuals describe their access to general and preventative healthcare, identify what were perceived as barriers in seeking basic healthcare, and describe what was subjectively identified as a positive healthcare experiences. My personal and professional interest as a physical therapist combined with a thorough literature review, and the theoretical framework of minority stress theory comprised the conceptual framework. I conducted semistructured interviews with eight participants, during which I asked them to share their stories regarding their healthcare experiences. In these subjective accounts, I explored TNB gender identity and healthcare perceptions. The primary themes that I identified included (a) learned dread of negotiating healthcare access, (b) unique challenges of the TNB individual, and (c) identifying affirming healthcare experiences. The findings included TNB avoidance of healthcare, concealment of gender identity and the subsequent negative impacts from this as well as heteronormative assumptions and stigmas regarding their gender identity from healthcare professionals.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Education

Author dc:creator

• Gould, Allison

Contributors dc:contributor

• Andrea Disque
• Jennifer Galipeau

• transgender
• non-binary
• healthcare access
• healthcare barriers
• Education
• Medical Humanities

Repository record dc:identifier

https://dune.une.edu/edu_diss/60

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dune.une.edu:edu_diss-1064