Institutional and systemic barriers and facilitators affecting healthcare access for Black women in Alberta

Canada's Black population has experienced significant growth in recent years, with substantial increases noted in the prairie provinces. As Black people continue to make up a growing proportion of the population, it is important to understand their experiences in accessing healthcare services, especially for those who are multiply marginalized. We undertook a qualitative study to examine the healthcare access experiences of Black women in Canada. We completed semi-structured interviews with a sample of 30 Black women from Alberta. Our study was guided by intersectionality to examine how Black women's experience of healthcare access is shaped by social processes related to their socio-demographic characteristics such as being Black, a woman, an immigrant or non-immigrant, and having high or low income. From our thematic analysis we identified three key factors that hinders healthcare access for Black women: socioeconomic barriers, health systems issues, and racism. We identified two types of facilitators: community and institutional facilitators and structural facilitators. Our findings elucidate how Black women's experiences of accessing and utilizing health services in Alberta are influenced by overlapping institutional, structural, and systemic factors.