scholarly journals Access to health care among people with foreign background and the general population in Finland

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
H Kuusio ◽  
A Seppänen ◽  
E Lilja ◽  
T Vehko ◽  
S Jokela ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
General Population ◽  
Access To Care ◽  
Marital Status ◽  
Access To Health Care ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Perceived Health ◽  
Access To Health ◽  
Perceived Access

Abstract Background Prior studies suggest that people with foreign background (PFB) often face problems in access to health care, although access to care may vary between the different PFB groups. This study explores 1) the potential differences in perceived access to care between different PFB groups and the general population, and 2) if marital status, education, employment, self-perceived health, long-term illness, length of stay, age moved to Finland or language skills are associated with access to care among PFB. Methods The data were gathered from the cross-sectional survey on well-being among the PFB (FinMONIK), conducted in Finland 2018. Its random sample consisted of 12 877 persons, aged 18-64 years and the response rate was 53%. Three items were used to assess perceived access to care: I was able to contact the place of care smoothly, I was able to make an appointment without undue delay and I was examined without undue delay (e.g. laboratory tests, X-ray, ultrasound). Logistic regression was used to test which factors were associated with accesses to care, adjusted for age, sex and region. Results After controlling for age, sex and region, the results showed significant differences in access to care among different migrant groups and the general population (p < 0.001). Of those of Estonian background 37% felt that access to care was smooth while only 17% of those coming from Middle-East, and 26% of the general population. Employed persons, persons who had good self-perceived health, and people with no long-term illness, and those who had lived in Finland less than five years, had better access to health care. Marital status, education, language skills and age moved to Finland, were not associated with access to care. Conclusions Large inequities in access to care were identified among people with foreign background. Access to services seems to be better for employed persons and those who have good self-perceived health. Key messages Special attention should be given to improve access to care among non-employed migrants. Migrants should not be considered as a uniform group when planning services.

Access to Health Care for Pregnant Arabic-Speaking Refugee Women and Mothers in Germany

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 437-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Henry ◽  
Christian Beruf ◽  
Thomas Fischer
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Literacy ◽  
Access To Health Care ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Limited Health Literacy ◽  
Pregnancy And Childbirth ◽  
Refugee Women ◽  
Health Care Experiences ◽  
Access To Health

Refugee women often encounter multiple barriers when accessing ante-, peri-, and postnatal care. The aim of this study was to investigate how premigration experiences, conceptions about pregnancy and childbirth, health literacy, and language skills influence access to health care, experiences of health care, and childbirth. A total of 12 semi-structured interviews with refugee women from Iraq, Syria, and Palestine were conducted in the city of Dresden. Content analysis was applied using Levesque’s access model as a framework. Results indicate that conceptions of pregnancy and childbirth and premigration experiences influence women’s behaviors and experiences of pregnancy and childbirth. They contribute to barriers in accessing health care and lead to negative health outcomes. In view of limited health literacy, poor language skills, lack of information, and missing translators, female relatives in countries of origin remain an important source of information. Improved access to services for refugee women is needed.

scholarly journals Canadian Health Personnel Attitudes Toward Refugee Claimants’ Entitlement to Health Care

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cécile Rousseau ◽  
Joanna Anneke Rummens ◽  
Rochelle L. Frounfelker ◽  
Monica Ruiz Casares Yebenes ◽  
Janet Cleveland
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Access To Care ◽  
Vulnerable Populations ◽  
Access To Health Care ◽  
Health Care Personnel ◽  
System Level ◽  
Equal Access ◽  
Access To Health ◽  
Refugee Claimants ◽  
Canadian Health

AbstractHealth care personnel attitudes toward refugee claimant entitlement to health care are influenced by multilevel factors including institutional and societal culture. Although individual attitudes may be modified through training, macro- and meso-issues require system-level interventions. This paper analyzes the role of individual-, institutional-, and city-level factors in shaping attitudes toward refugee claimants’ access to health care among Canadian health care personnel. A total of 4207 health care personnel in 16 institutions located in Montreal and Toronto completed an online survey on attitudes regarding health care access for refugee claimants. We used multilevel logistic regression analysis to identify individual-, institutional-, and city-level predictors of endorsing access to care. Participants who had prior contact with refugee claimants had greater odds of endorsing access to care than those who did not (OR 1.13; 95% CI 1.05, 1.21). Attitudes varied with occupation: social workers had the highest probability of endorsing equal access to health care (.83; 95% CI .77, .89) followed by physicians (.77; 95% CI .71, .82). An estimated 7.97% of the individual variation in endorsement of equal access to health care was attributable to differences between institutions, but this association was no longer statistically significant after adjusting for city residence. Results indicate that the contexts in which health care professionals live and work are important when understanding opinions on access to health care for vulnerable populations. They suggest that institutional interventions promoting a collective mission to care for vulnerable populations may improve access to health care for precarious status migrants.

scholarly journals Access to health care for patients with thalassaemia in Greece: a cross-sectional study

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (12) ◽  
pp. 1482-1492
Author(s):  
Kyriakos Souliotis ◽  
Christina Golna ◽  
Sofia Nikolaidi ◽  
Georgia Vatheia
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Access To Care ◽  
Access To Health Care ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Social Needs ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Outpatient Services ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Beta Thalassaemia ◽  
Access To Health

Background: The prevalence and clinical burden of beta-thalassaemia in Greece is high. Little information is available on the unmet needs of patients with beta-thalassaemia and barriers to access to care. Aims: This study investigated barriers that patients with transfusion-dependent beta-thalassaemia in Greece face when accessing care and the associations between socioeconomic factors and access to care. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between November 2018 and January 2019. The sample consisted of 116 beta-thalassaemia patient-members of two Panhellenic patient associations for people with thalassaemia. All respondents were transfusion-dependent. The survey customized and used the Patient Access Partnership 5As of access tool to measure participants’ access to health care services (subscales: accessibility, adequacy, affordability, appropriateness and availability). Data on their socioeconomic characteristics were also recorded. The association between the total score of each subscale and patient characteristics was examined using the Mann–Whitney or Kruskal–Wallis tests. Results: Respondents considered inpatient services less adequate and appropriate, and outpatient services and laboratory tests less affordable. Outpatient services were also perceived as less available. Participants’ income was statistically significantly associated with all the subscales except accessibility, and rural residence was significantly associated with all five subscales. Conclusion: Barriers in access to health care among beta-thalassaemia patients receiving transfusions still persist, especially for those who live far from transfusion centres and have lower incomes. It is important to understand and map current unmet medical and social needs of beta-thalassaemia patients in Greece, in order to design and implement a targeted health policy that can measurably improve patients’ lives.

scholarly journals Intersection of Migration and Access to Health Care: Experiences and Perceptions of Female Economic Migrants in Canada

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (10) ◽  
pp. 3682
Author(s):  
Solina Richter ◽  
Helen Vallianatos ◽  
Jacqueline Green ◽  
Chioma Obuekwe
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Access To Care ◽  
Health Care System ◽  
Access To Health Care ◽  
Social Connectedness ◽  
Reproductive Age ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Access To Health ◽  
Care System

More people are migrating than ever before. There are an estimated 1 billion migrants globally—of whom, 258 million are international migrants and 763 million are internal migrants. Almost half of these migrants are women, and most are of reproductive age. Female migration has increased. The socioeconomic contexts of women migrants need investigation to better understand how migration intersects with accessing health care. We employed a focused ethnography design. We recruited 29 women from three African countries: Ghana, Nigeria, and South Africa. We used purposive and convenient sampling techniques and collected data using face-to-face interviews. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analyzed with the support of ATLAS.ti 8 Windows (ATLAS.ti Scientific Software Development GmbH), a computer-based qualitative software for data management. We interviewed 10 women from both South Africa and Ghana and nine women from Nigeria. Their ages ranged between 24 and 64 years. The four themes that developed included social connectedness to navigate access to care, the influence of place of origin on access to care, experiences of financial accessibility, and historical and cultural orientation to accessing health care. It was clear that theses factors affected economic migrant women’s access to health care after migration. Canada has a universal health care system but multiple research studies have documented that migrants have significant barriers to accessing health care. Most migrants indeed arrive in Canada from a health care system that is very different than their country of origin. Access to health care is one of the most important social determinants of health.

scholarly journals Perceptions of Health Care Use in Germany during the COVID-19 Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (24) ◽  
pp. 9351
Author(s):  
André Hajek ◽  
Freia De Bock ◽  
Lothar H. Wieler ◽  
Philipp Sprengholz ◽  
Benedikt Kretzler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Medical Care ◽  
Access To Health Care ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Access To Healthcare ◽  
Health Care Use ◽  
Access To Health ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Perceived Access

This paper examined the determinants of perceived access to health care use during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany using data from two waves (8 and 16) of the COVID-19 Snapshot Monitoring (COSMO). Descriptive and regression analysis were used. In wave 8, we found that about 60% of the individuals rather disagreed about having had problems accessing medical care. Furthermore, 73% of the individuals rather disagreed to having experienced health deteriorations due to restrictions on the availability of medical care. Moreover, 85% of the individuals were rather optimistic about future access to healthcare services. Overall, slightly better past and future access to healthcare services has been reported in wave 16. Several determinants were identified in regression analysis. In conclusion, data suggest that perceived past and future access to healthcare services during the COVID-19 pandemic is reasonably good.

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