Abstract:
INTRODUCTION: In South Africa’s diverse population, queer voices emerge as
change agents, proposing new and critical solutions to reform sexual and
reproductive healthcare services in the pursuit of inclusivity and equality. Our
research aimed to explore and describe queer individuals’ perceptions and
solutions for promoting sexual-reproductive healthcare services and needs
(SRHSN) in Gauteng Province, South Africa.
METHODOLOGY: An explorative-descriptive study was performed for this research.
A total of 22 queer individuals was recruited using respondent-driven sampling
(RDS) within a queer-inclusive non-governmental organization (NGO) clinic in
Gauteng Province, South Africa. Semi-structured interviews and an interview
guide were utilized to collect data using English. Thematic content analysis was
applied using NVivo 14.
RESULTS: Four main themes and related sub-themes were revealed from the study
including the creation of healthcare equity for queer individuals, empowering
and supporting healthcare providers (HCPs) to enhance skills, knowledge, and
expertise, raising awareness on queer-related issues, and different stakeholders’
involvement.
CONCLUSION: As we navigate South Africa’s complex landscape of SRHSN for
queer individuals, the crucial opinions and solutions offered by queer people
not only challenge the status quo but also reveal an approach to a better, more
equitable, empathetic, and accommodating healthcare system for everyone.
Future studies should ensure the inclusiveness of queer individuals with the
interest of improving their health not just for research outputs
