Intersectional approach
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Last reviewed: 02/09/2025
Intersectional approach
Intersectional approach
Intersectionality explains how discrimination and disadvantages impact individuals or groups. It takes into account peoples’ overlapping identities and experiences to understand health inequalities and prejudices (King's Fund, 2022).
An intersectional approach recognises that an individual who identifies across multiple ‘protected characteristics’, for example race, gender, sexual orientation, class, physical ability, religion/faith, combined with wider determinants of health (socioeconomical status), is more likely to encounter systems of oppression. This might include racism, sexism, homophobia and systemic discrimination.
In 2021 the Lancet reported that data analysis on 4.6m pregnancies in seven countries suggests the miscarriage risk for black women is 43% higher than for white women.
An intersectional approach enables nurses to better understand the many factors that contribute to disparities in health care and to develop appropriate care approaches.
Services should acknowledge barriers to care and make allowances where possible to ensure women can access the care they need safely and acceptably. This could include services such as telemedicine, which has been welcomed in abortion care in England and Wales.
For vulnerable women, it may be necessary to facilitate outreach services where possible. Outreach services are designed to break down the barriers hard-to-reach groups may experience when trying to access care.
Further resources
- Health Care for Women International (2017): A survey of service providers’ views on care and support provision for older women from Black and minority ethnic backgrounds in Wales: Implications for policy and practice.
- Kings Fund (2023): Back to Basics - Understanding lived experience and intersectionality in health and care.
- Public Health Wales (2024) ‘Building blocks for gender equity: Strategies for a prosperous future for women in Wales’.
