Experiences of Arab Immigrant Women in Emergency Departments in Halifax Regional Municipality

Abstract

This feminist phenomenological study explored the gendered experiences of Arab immigrant women when visiting Emergency Departments (EDs) in Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM), Nova Scotia, Canada. Six Arab immigrant women who visited EDs in HRM were recruited from the community. The purpose of the research was to provide a deeper understanding of this population while engaging with health care providers in EDs. Four themes emerged: Engagement in Cultural Care with Health Care Providers, Disengagement and Cultural Care, Suffering in Pain While Waiting, and I am lost! Help Me Please! Bringing these women's experiences to the attention of health care providers may assist in providing safe, ethical, culturally congruent, and equitable care. It also provides a basis for future studies which together may contribute to institutional policy development, best practice guidelines, and educational curricula. This may potentiate an improvement in this population of women’s health outcomes and a better quality of life.