Garbiñe Elizegi Narbarte
RN, BSN, MS, PhD candidate
University of California, San Francisco, United States of America
Basque women and gender non-normative individuals’ experiences with culturally safe healthcare in the Basque Country.
Elizegi Narbarte, G.
15-minute Oral Presentation
Monday 09 December, 12:00pm
Purpose: As part of an Indigenous and ethnic minority culture, Basque women and gender non-normative individuals might be exposed to discrimination and sub-optimal healthcare services. This study explores their experiences with healthcare and identifies the barriers and facilitators to implement culturally safe practices in the Basque Country.
Methods: A critical ethnographic approach was used to conduct 37 semi-structured interviews, health clinic observations, and 4 focus groups. Thematic analysis was used to identify overarching themes using transcripts and field notes.
Results: Two major themes were identified: Cultural and language discrimination in the healthcare system and gender bias and discrimination during the healthcare encounter. For the first major theme, subthemes identified and included: invisibility of Basque language and culture, normalization of Euskaraphobia, language and cultural concordance, and discreditation of traditional healing practices. For the second major theme, subthemes included: lack of information regarding women’s health issues, discrimination based on sexual or gender identity, self-determination over healthcare services, and obstetric violence.
Conclusions: Participants’ experiences are barriers to culturally safe health care. Language and cultural concordant care, self-determination over healthcare services and non-biased gender equity in healthcare can improve healthcare experiences in the Basque context.