Canadian Women and Gender-Diverse People with Disabilities’ Experiences in Accessing Primary Care: A National Survey

In 2022, disability was more prevalent among women (30% of women) than men (24% of men); and this statistic fails to acknowledge gender diverse Canadians– anyone who does not identify with their sex assigned at birth– who make up a significant part of the disabled population (Statistics Canada).

Disabled women and gender-diverse people represent a significant part of the Canadian population, and have unique intersectional experiences and needs; these experiences have often been overlooked in the greater medical and research context. In primary care settings, this population continues to face attitudinal, physical, and informational barriers. These barriers are especially detrimental in Canada, because specialist or secondary care can only be accessed through referral from a primary care provider. Additionally, numerous social service and financial supports require documentation of medical conditions by a primary care provider. Therefore, for disabled people in Canada, accessing primary care is essential to obtaining not only baseline care, but also critical support for their complex care needs. Barriers to accessing primary care can lead to significantly worse health and psychosocial outcomes.

Current literature about the specific primary healthcare experiences of disabled women and gender diverse people is sparse, making this study even more valuable as a means of both evaluating this population’s primary care experiences, and enhancing survey research accessibility and inclusivity. Our research aims to enrich the understanding of disabled women and gender-diverse individuals’ experiences, as well as their unique needs and goals when accessing and using primary healthcare services in Canada, especially from an intersectional lens.

This project will be based on a research partnership with the DisAbled Women’s Network (DAWN) of Canada. The purpose of our research is to gain a rich understanding of disabled women and gender-diverse individuals’ needs, goals and barriers when accessing primary care in Canada. 

We will be conducting a national survey of disabled women and gender diverse people, based on their previous experiences in using primary care services (family doctor, emergency room, walk-in clinic, urgent care, nurse practitioner clinic). The survey will be co-designed in multiple stages alongside a selected cohort of our target population as well as our partners at DAWN, to ensure that its online distribution method and format are accessible and inclusive, and that the questions we ask will provide rich, valuable knowledge. 

Our work will revolve around a central research question: “How do disabled women and gender-diverse people experience primary care in Canada in the context of the intersection of their disability and gender identity?” Primary care in Canada is the first stepping stone in the greater path towards accessing crucial health and social support services. It is our hope that enriching our understanding of the primary care needs of our target population will better enable the establishment of policies, standards for accessibility supports, and education, in order to improve the overall health outcomes and wellbeing of disabled women and gender diverse people in Canada.