FROM THE FIELD TO THE RESEARCH DIARY: FINDINGS IN THE SEARCH FOR INFORMATION ON TRANS HEALTH IN SPAIN

Abstract

This study analyzed the findings and challenges experienced while searching for information on health care for trans people in Spain, focusing on the city of Seville and drawing connections with the Brazilian context. This descriptive qualitative study was grounded in Institutional Analysis, particularly its Socioanalytic approach. Data were produced between July and October 2024 through more than twenty observational visits to health services, conversations with professionals and users, and entries in a research diary, which were subsequently examined using thematic categorical analysis. Three themes emerged: challenges in obtaining information about care for trans people; findings concerning such care in Spain; and activities undertaken and prospects for future collaboration. The results revealed difficulties in accessing information and professionals, insufficient specific training, persistent stigma and institutional transphobia, territorial fragmentation of services, and a gap between legislative advances and their implementation. The diary supported analysis of the researcher’s implications and helped identify linguistic, cultural, organizational, and academic barriers encountered during fieldwork abroad. The study concludes that, despite depathologizing legal and regulatory advances, structural obstacles still hinder comprehensive, equitable, and effective health care for trans people.