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. 2023 Aug 16;23(1):434.
doi: 10.1186/s12905-023-02595-7.

Protection of gender health and fight against gender violence during the COVID-19 pandemic: the experience of our street clinic in a disadvantaged suburb of Rome Metropolitan City

Suleika Urbano  1 , Elisabetta Gobbi  1 , Valeria Florio  2 , Aurelia Rughetti  1   3 , Lucia Ercoli  4   5
Affiliations

Protection of gender health and fight against gender violence during the COVID-19 pandemic: the experience of our street clinic in a disadvantaged suburb of Rome Metropolitan City

Suleika Urbano et al. BMC Womens Health. .

Abstract

Object: In this study, we evaluated health, social inequalities and risk to gender violence of women living in a disadvantaged degraded suburb of Rome Metropolitan City, during COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: The study included 779 women referring to primary care services of Medicina Solidale Institute for gynecological/breast examinations (209), medical and support aid for the children (383) and COVID-19 test execution (187).

Results: The data show that most women (68%) were unemployed or had an irregular job. The request of support varied depending on the ethnicity: while healthcare support was requested mostly by African female community, the COVID-19 test, mandatory for public transportation and work, was a need of the east-european community. Both these communities referred to Medical Solidale primary care service for the healthcare and food/clothing support for their children. It is interesting to note that the requests from the Italian women community was elevated in terms of personal healthcare, support for the children and COVID-19 test execution. The access to the national health system (NHS) resulted a complex administrative procedure despite the original social-ethnic communities. The vast majority of women lacked awareness of their crucial role for supporting the family entity, while inadequacy was commonly reported.

Conclusions: This study confirms a critical condition for women living in disadvantaged neighborhoods, whose vulnerability is further worsened by the limited access to primary care assistance with serious consequences for health and quality of life. Prevention and treatment, especially for the most vulnerable subjects, should be a priority for the public health system.

Keywords: COVID-19; Fragile population; Health inequalities; Intimate partner violence; Poverty; Screening; Women health.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Schematic diagram representing the main features of the primary care services of Medicina Solidale Institute for women during the period May 2020—March 2022
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Socio-demographic data of the women acceding to the street clinic units for health care needs (209). Histograms represents subject distribution on the basis of the country origin (A) and period of arrival in Italy (B)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
PAP-Test Screening and diagnosis of gynecological infection/morbidity. Pap-test screening was accepted by 110 women out the 148 undergoing gynecological examination
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Distress due to conflict with the partner and lack of social and familiar network. Pie charts show the conflict with the partner (A) and family network (B). The percentages are referred to the total number of the women requesting gynecological/obstetric/breast examination (209)
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Socio-demographic data of the women acceding to the primary health care center of Medicina Solidale Institute for family/children support (A, B) or COVID-19 test (C, D). Data regarding the women asking for family/children support were reordered for 115 women out 383: A) country of origin, B) Educational status level. Data regarding the women asking for COVID-19 test refer to the 187 women: C) country of origin, B) Age. Histograms represent the number of women and percentage respect to the groups analyzed are reported within each bar
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