McGlacken, T and O'Loughlin, N and O'Flynn, D and Cianci, F (2024) The Woman's Health Service (WHS): a qualitative review with sex workers to inform clinical and social care service delivery in Ireland. SSRN, https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4704886.
External website: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_i...
Female, and trans-female, sex workers experience higher levels of violence, mental health disorders, drug and alcohol misuse, sexually transmitted infections and reproductive health issues than the general population. High levels of stigma and marginalisation exacerbate these health outcomes, directly and through reduced access to care. The Women’s Health Service (WHS) in Dublin, Ireland, provides wide-ranging healthcare and social support to women/trans-women, involved in sex work across Ireland. A recent evaluation of the service recommended harvesting service and non-service user views in relation to service delivery and their health and social care needs. The objective of this study was to assess the views of sex workers in relation to their experiences of health and social care, namely the WHS, the factors that impact access to care and how services can be developed to help meet their needs. A qualitative evaluation was conducted with eight sex workers and their subjective experiences of clinical and social care explored through the use of semi-structured interviews. An analytical approach was adopted using inductive thematic analysis. The interview data can be grouped into six themes: difficulty accessing the clinic; the need to broaden knowledge and awareness of the service; the important of neutrality and confidentiality; the need to expand the scope of the current service; the need for help to deal with psychological, legal and financial stress; the importance of ongoing service-user involvement and feedback. These themes fed into a number of recommendations to improve the service. The findings of this study help to address a gap in the literature relating to best practice processes for providing health and social care to this vulnerable population. There is an urgent need to make accessible healthcare provision for marginalised groups the norm, not the exception.
B Substances > Alcohol
J Health care, prevention, harm reduction and treatment > Health related issues > Health information and education > Communicable / infectious disease control > Safe sex / sexual health
J Health care, prevention, harm reduction and treatment > Health care delivery
MM-MO Crime and law > Public order offence / social code crime > Prostitution / sex-work
T Demographic characteristics > Woman (women / female)
T Demographic characteristics > Homosexual, gay, bisexual, lesbian, transgender, LGBTQ+
VA Geographic area > Europe > Ireland
Repository Staff Only: item control page