A Qualitative Exploration into the Quality of Gender Affirming Healthcare in Nova Scotia

Abstract

Gender diverse people receive minimal coverage in academic literature. The literature that does exist (academic articles and anecdotal stories in news articles) suggests that gender diverse people are not supported by healthcare providers to the point where all care is avoided as a means of self-preservation. The current research gathered five gender diverse participants and one participant representing the BScN (Bachelor of Science, Nursing) program at Cape Breton University, and used qualitative research methods, including Grounded Theory (Rennie, 2000) to understand different perspectives on how gender diverse people feel about healthcare providers regarding gender affirmation and general health. Gender diverse interviewees expressed feelings ranging from fear to dissatisfaction when dealing with healthcare providers, and while at times the BScN was able to partially validate these perspectives, there were moments when they were out of sync, notably that gender diverse patients should be responsible for educating their healthcare providers. The five themes that emerged from the thematic analysis include (1) Not feeling supported by uneducated, unwelcoming healthcare providers, (2) Feeling scared and uncomfortable to open up to healthcare providers to the point where any medical care is avoided, (3) Current need for self-advocacy, (4) Poor access to information for both gender diverse adults and healthcare providers, and (5) The solution is that doctors need to be willing to make a concerted effort to educate themselves and to learn from gender diverse people (while not expecting their own patients to have to educate them).