Barriers in access to healthcare for women with disabilities: a systematic review in qualitative studies

• Published in: BMC women's health Vol. 21; no. 1; pp. 44 - 23
• Main Authors: Matin, Behzad Karami, Williamson, Heather J, Karyani, Ali Kazemi, Rezaei, Satar, Soofi, Moslem, Soltani, Shahin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 30.01.2021; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Community involvement; Developing countries; Disabilities; Disabled women; Health aspects; Health care; Health care access; Health services; Healthcare delivery; Healthcare disparities; Industrialized nations; Intellectual disabilities; Intellectual disability; LDCs; Literature reviews; Low income groups; Oral hygiene; Poverty; Qualitative research; Systematic review; Womens health; Iran; United States > US; Qualitative research; Systematic review; Healthcare delivery; Healthcare disparities; Intellectual disability
• ISSN: 1472-6874; 1472-6874
• DOI: 10.1186/s12905-021-01189-5

Studies show that different socio-economic and structural factors can limit access to healthcare for women with disabilities. The aim of the current study was to review barriers in access to healthcare services for women with disabilities (WWD) internationally. We conducted a systematic review of relevant qualitative articles in PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus databases from January 2009 to December 2017. The search strategy was based on two main topics: (1) access to healthcare; and (2) disability. In this review, women (older than 18) with different kinds of disabilities (physical, sensory and intellectual disabilities) were included. Studies were excluded if they were not peer-reviewed, and had a focus on men with disabilities. Twenty four articles met the inclusion criteria for the final review. In each study, participants noted various barriers to accessing healthcare. Findings revealed that WWD faced different sociocultural (erroneous assumptions, negative attitudes, being ignored, being judged, violence, abuse, insult, impoliteness, and low health literacy), financial (poverty, unemployment, high transportation costs) and structural (lack of insurance coverage, inaccessible equipment and transportation facilities, lack of knowledge, lack of information, lack of transparency, and communicative problems) factors which impacted their access healthcare. Healthcare systems need to train the healthcare workforce to respect WWD, pay attention to their preferences and choices, provide non-discriminatory and respectful treatment, and address stigmatizing attitudinal towards WWD. In addition, families and communities need to participate in advocacy efforts to promote WWD's access to health care.