Barriers and Enablers to Primary Care Access for Equity-Deserving Populations in Ontario: A Scoping Review

For thousands of years, it has been the traditional land of the Huron-Wendat, the Seneca and the Mississaugas of the Credit. [...] In order to support work to better understand what could be done to improve access to primary care and equity in access to primary care, a rapid scoping review of literature from 2000 to early 2024 was conducted to answer the following question: What are the barriers and facilitators to accessing primary care for low-income, 2SLGBTQ+ and racialized populations in Ontario? Barriers and Enablers to. [...] Barriers and Enablers to Primary Care Access 7 Barriers and Enablers to Primary Care Access A total of 17 barriers and enablers to primary care access were identified within the literature (see Table 3). [...] Geographical barriers related to the spatial distribution of primary health providers was a focus of several of the papers demonstrating a spatial mismatch between the delivery and demand for linguistic and culturally aligned providers and patients in the GTA31-33,60. [...] The overarching theme on the need to provide culturally responsive care for equity-deserving groups in Ontario was evident in numerous discussions about discrimination experienced by patients in the 2SLGBTQ+ group, the lack of capacity to provide racialized patients with the culturally appropriate and responsive care they deserve, and the stigma experienced by patients with low incomes.