The experience of Francophones in Eastern Ontario: The importance of key facilitators (service users and providers) and the influence of structures supporting the health and social services system

This chapter describes the experiences of Francophones in eastern Ontario in terms of access to social services and health care. The experiences and perspectives of 40 parents, seniors, and caregivers were collected through semi-structured interviews. Qualitative analysis of the transcripts, as well as visual analysis of the trajectories of a subgroup of nine participants, made it possible to identify facilitators and challenges these users experienced in accessing Frenchlanguage services, either from their perspective or that of their caregivers. More specifically, this chapter emphasizes elements that facilitate access; these are discussed in order to share the lessons learned, which can contribute to improvements in social services and health care in official language minority communities. Key Words: access to services in French, Ontario Francophones, qualitative analysis.

Chapter 6