The Impact of Culture (Music and Legacy Legislation) on the Access to Public Healthcare Services for the LGBTQIA+ Community in Jamaica: Research Proposal

Abstract

The LGBTQIA+ Community in Jamaica is a vulnerable group that has experienced different issues of regarding access to services in the Jamaican society one such service is Public Healthcare. This paper seeks to highlight and clarify some of the challenges that affect the healthcare seeking behaviour of the LGBTQIA+ community in Jamaica mainly through culture (through music) and the legacy legislation of the nation from the period of colonial society. It seeks to highlight how violence, stigma and discrimination play an important part in the fears of the LGBTQIA+ community when they try to access healthcare services as well as the existence of those same challenges perpetuated by the health professionals in the public healthcare system. It will explore the intersectionality of access to healthcare and violence in the lives of the LGBTQIA+ community, showing how this is linked to the language used in songs from genres developed in Jamaica and the discriminatory lack of provisions of legislation. It will further provide recommendations as to where the government can begin to reduce the occurrences of these challenges and improve the healthcare outcomes of this vulnerable community which is so directly linked to the countries vision to attain developed status by the year 2030.