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. 2020 Nov 25;20(1):468.
doi: 10.1186/s12909-020-02384-y.

The training needs for gender-sensitive care in a pediatric rehabilitation hospital: a qualitative study

Sally Lindsay  1 , Kendall Kolne  2
Affiliations

The training needs for gender-sensitive care in a pediatric rehabilitation hospital: a qualitative study

Sally Lindsay et al. BMC Med Educ. .

Abstract

Background: Gender is an important social determinant of health; however, clinicians often lack training in how to provide gender-sensitive care. Offering appropriate and relevant training could help to address some gender-based health inequalities. Our objective was to identify and describe the training needs for gender-sensitive care among pediatric rehabilitation healthcare providers.

Methods: This study used an interpretive descriptive qualitative design to conduct interviews with 23 pediatric rehabilitation healthcare providers (19 women, 3 men, 1 transgender man), from a pediatric rehabilitation hospital in a large urban center, in Ontario, Canada from a range of disciplines. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using an open-coding inductive thematic analysis.

Results: Our analysis revealed the following themes: [1] lack of knowledge about gender-sensitive care and the need for more training; [2] content of the desired training (i.e., gender differences, effective communication and how to practice gender-sensitive care) and [3] delivery method of the training.

Conclusions: Enhanced gender-sensitive training for healthcare providers is required for optimizing patient outcomes and addressing gender-based health inequalities. Educators in pediatric rehabilitation should consider developing gender-sensitive care training that is embedded within post-graduate education and also continuing education within hospitals and community care centers.

Keywords: Diversity; Gender; Healthcare; Pediatric; Thematic analysis; Training; Women.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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