Access to rehabilitation: patient perceptions of inequalities in access to specialty pain rehabilitation from a gender and intersectional perspective
Background: Long-term musculoskeletal pain is common, particularly among women. Pain conditions are a concern in primary health care, and people with severe and complex pain are referred to specialty health care. There is gender bias in access, counselling, assessment, and treatment of long-term pai...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:0a5441db6ca347fcbbd3647b04ade8fe 2023-05-15T17:44:59+02:00 Access to rehabilitation: patient perceptions of inequalities in access to specialty pain rehabilitation from a gender and intersectional perspective Maria Wiklund Anncristine Fjellman-Wiklund Britt-Marie Stålnacke Anne Hammarström Arja Lehti 2016-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3402/gha.v9.31542 https://doaj.org/article/0a5441db6ca347fcbbd3647b04ade8fe EN eng Taylor & Francis Group http://www.globalhealthaction.net/index.php/gha/article/view/31542/pdf_311 https://doaj.org/toc/1654-9880 1654-9880 doi:10.3402/gha.v9.31542 https://doaj.org/article/0a5441db6ca347fcbbd3647b04ade8fe Global Health Action, Vol 9, Iss 0, Pp 1-11 (2016) chronic pain treatment of pain multimodal rehabilitation gender bias equity in health intersectionality qualitative interviews Sweden Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2016 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3402/gha.v9.31542 2022-12-31T00:06:59Z Background: Long-term musculoskeletal pain is common, particularly among women. Pain conditions are a concern in primary health care, and people with severe and complex pain are referred to specialty health care. There is gender bias in access, counselling, assessment, and treatment of long-term pain. Objective: This study explores patient accounts and perceptions about important (social) factors for accessing specialised pain rehabilitation from gender and intersectional equality perspectives. We aimed to identify potential biases and inequalities in accessing rehabilitation resources at a specialised rehabilitation clinic. Design: Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 adults after an assessment or completion of a specialised rehabilitation programme in northern Sweden. Qualitative content analysis was used to explore patients’ perceptions of important factors for accessing rehabilitation. Results: One main theme was formulated as Access to rehab – not a given. Three categories of perceived inequality were demonstrated: power of gender, power of social status, and power of diagnosis. Participants perceived rehabilitation as a resource that is not equally available, but dependent on factors such as gender, socio-economic status, ability to work, ethnicity, or age, and more subtle aspects of social status and habitus (e.g. appearance, fitness, and weight). The character of diagnosis received (medical versus psychiatric or social) was also noted. Conclusions: It is crucial that professionals are aware of how potential inequalities related to gender, social status, and diagnosis, and their intersections, can be created, perceived, and have influence on the processes of assessment and treatment. Reduction of social determinants of health and biases remain important within global, national, and local contexts. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northern Sweden Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Global Health Action 9 1 31542 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
chronic pain treatment of pain multimodal rehabilitation gender bias equity in health intersectionality qualitative interviews Sweden Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
spellingShingle |
chronic pain treatment of pain multimodal rehabilitation gender bias equity in health intersectionality qualitative interviews Sweden Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Maria Wiklund Anncristine Fjellman-Wiklund Britt-Marie Stålnacke Anne Hammarström Arja Lehti Access to rehabilitation: patient perceptions of inequalities in access to specialty pain rehabilitation from a gender and intersectional perspective |
topic_facet |
chronic pain treatment of pain multimodal rehabilitation gender bias equity in health intersectionality qualitative interviews Sweden Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
Background: Long-term musculoskeletal pain is common, particularly among women. Pain conditions are a concern in primary health care, and people with severe and complex pain are referred to specialty health care. There is gender bias in access, counselling, assessment, and treatment of long-term pain. Objective: This study explores patient accounts and perceptions about important (social) factors for accessing specialised pain rehabilitation from gender and intersectional equality perspectives. We aimed to identify potential biases and inequalities in accessing rehabilitation resources at a specialised rehabilitation clinic. Design: Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 adults after an assessment or completion of a specialised rehabilitation programme in northern Sweden. Qualitative content analysis was used to explore patients’ perceptions of important factors for accessing rehabilitation. Results: One main theme was formulated as Access to rehab – not a given. Three categories of perceived inequality were demonstrated: power of gender, power of social status, and power of diagnosis. Participants perceived rehabilitation as a resource that is not equally available, but dependent on factors such as gender, socio-economic status, ability to work, ethnicity, or age, and more subtle aspects of social status and habitus (e.g. appearance, fitness, and weight). The character of diagnosis received (medical versus psychiatric or social) was also noted. Conclusions: It is crucial that professionals are aware of how potential inequalities related to gender, social status, and diagnosis, and their intersections, can be created, perceived, and have influence on the processes of assessment and treatment. Reduction of social determinants of health and biases remain important within global, national, and local contexts. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Maria Wiklund Anncristine Fjellman-Wiklund Britt-Marie Stålnacke Anne Hammarström Arja Lehti |
author_facet |
Maria Wiklund Anncristine Fjellman-Wiklund Britt-Marie Stålnacke Anne Hammarström Arja Lehti |
author_sort |
Maria Wiklund |
title |
Access to rehabilitation: patient perceptions of inequalities in access to specialty pain rehabilitation from a gender and intersectional perspective |
title_short |
Access to rehabilitation: patient perceptions of inequalities in access to specialty pain rehabilitation from a gender and intersectional perspective |
title_full |
Access to rehabilitation: patient perceptions of inequalities in access to specialty pain rehabilitation from a gender and intersectional perspective |
title_fullStr |
Access to rehabilitation: patient perceptions of inequalities in access to specialty pain rehabilitation from a gender and intersectional perspective |
title_full_unstemmed |
Access to rehabilitation: patient perceptions of inequalities in access to specialty pain rehabilitation from a gender and intersectional perspective |
title_sort |
access to rehabilitation: patient perceptions of inequalities in access to specialty pain rehabilitation from a gender and intersectional perspective |
publisher |
Taylor & Francis Group |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3402/gha.v9.31542 https://doaj.org/article/0a5441db6ca347fcbbd3647b04ade8fe |
genre |
Northern Sweden |
genre_facet |
Northern Sweden |
op_source |
Global Health Action, Vol 9, Iss 0, Pp 1-11 (2016) |
op_relation |
http://www.globalhealthaction.net/index.php/gha/article/view/31542/pdf_311 https://doaj.org/toc/1654-9880 1654-9880 doi:10.3402/gha.v9.31542 https://doaj.org/article/0a5441db6ca347fcbbd3647b04ade8fe |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3402/gha.v9.31542 |
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Global Health Action |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
31542 |
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