Page 99 - S. Ličen, I. Karnjuš, & M. Prosen (Eds.). (2019). Women, migrations and health: Ensuring transcultural healthcare. Koper, University of Primorska Press.
P. 99
Migrants’ Experiences in the Healthcare System
burden in chronic, infectious, mental, and neurological diseases (Salman &
Resick, 2015).
The major impact factors on migrants’ health are linked to experiences and
exposure in the country of origin, in camps and en route and in the process of
immigration into the host country and living in foreign countries. Migrants’
health is also affected by psychological problems and by infectious diseases
due to the exceptional and hazardous conditions of their journey.
High quality patient care should be effective, efficient, accessible, patient
centred, equitable and safe (WHO, 2008). Due to the extensive barriers, how-
ever, migrant healthcare is not always meeting high quality care standards.
Of all healthcare professionals, nurses are the largest staff group which also
has most direct patient contact. Nurses are therefore a staff group that is par-
ticularly important in ensuring the quality of migrant patient care.
Healthcare-Seeking Behaviour: Influencing Factors
Healthcare seeking behaviour (HCSB) is a term that refers to patterns of uti-
lization, treatment seeking, delay in seeking care, predicting the future prob-
able burden of diseases, facilitation of the health status, early diagnosis, com-
plete and effective treatment, and complication control. HCSB relies on time
and context and are associated with social, cultural, economic, disease pat-
tern and issues related to health services (Poortaghi et al., 2015). Multiple fac-
tors such as educational level (Ahmed et al., 2016; Chau et al., 2018; Dawood
et al., 2017, Jurcev-Savicevic & Kardum, 2012), occupation, marital status, eco-
nomic status, age and sex, healthcare costs, type and severity of illness, dis-
tance and physical access, and perceived quality of service provision (Caitlin
& Austen, 2009; Tipping & Segall, 1995) are associated with HCSB. Further fac-
tors include time, insecurity, social status, language barriers, lack of informa-
tion (Ahmed et al., 2016; Kalich et al., 2016) and cultural differences (Ahmed
et al., 2016; Chau et al., 2018; Kalich et al., 2016).
The migrant population is diverse and each person has individual health
needs (Luiking et al., 2018). Indeed, the most recent project conducted by
our research group, a meta ethnography study (Luiking et al., 2018) showed
that a multitude of factors influence the HCSB decision-making process. Mi-
grants seek care according to their needs and legal status and they often
consult trusted individuals within their own community about how to ad-
dress a health problem before seeking formal help (Luiking et al., 2018). Fur-
ther considerations are time and financial resources (Herdman et al., 2016;
Lattof, 2018). The framework derived from our investigation provides a more
comprehensive overview on HCSB in migrants (Luiking et al., 2018) and de-
97
burden in chronic, infectious, mental, and neurological diseases (Salman &
Resick, 2015).
The major impact factors on migrants’ health are linked to experiences and
exposure in the country of origin, in camps and en route and in the process of
immigration into the host country and living in foreign countries. Migrants’
health is also affected by psychological problems and by infectious diseases
due to the exceptional and hazardous conditions of their journey.
High quality patient care should be effective, efficient, accessible, patient
centred, equitable and safe (WHO, 2008). Due to the extensive barriers, how-
ever, migrant healthcare is not always meeting high quality care standards.
Of all healthcare professionals, nurses are the largest staff group which also
has most direct patient contact. Nurses are therefore a staff group that is par-
ticularly important in ensuring the quality of migrant patient care.
Healthcare-Seeking Behaviour: Influencing Factors
Healthcare seeking behaviour (HCSB) is a term that refers to patterns of uti-
lization, treatment seeking, delay in seeking care, predicting the future prob-
able burden of diseases, facilitation of the health status, early diagnosis, com-
plete and effective treatment, and complication control. HCSB relies on time
and context and are associated with social, cultural, economic, disease pat-
tern and issues related to health services (Poortaghi et al., 2015). Multiple fac-
tors such as educational level (Ahmed et al., 2016; Chau et al., 2018; Dawood
et al., 2017, Jurcev-Savicevic & Kardum, 2012), occupation, marital status, eco-
nomic status, age and sex, healthcare costs, type and severity of illness, dis-
tance and physical access, and perceived quality of service provision (Caitlin
& Austen, 2009; Tipping & Segall, 1995) are associated with HCSB. Further fac-
tors include time, insecurity, social status, language barriers, lack of informa-
tion (Ahmed et al., 2016; Kalich et al., 2016) and cultural differences (Ahmed
et al., 2016; Chau et al., 2018; Kalich et al., 2016).
The migrant population is diverse and each person has individual health
needs (Luiking et al., 2018). Indeed, the most recent project conducted by
our research group, a meta ethnography study (Luiking et al., 2018) showed
that a multitude of factors influence the HCSB decision-making process. Mi-
grants seek care according to their needs and legal status and they often
consult trusted individuals within their own community about how to ad-
dress a health problem before seeking formal help (Luiking et al., 2018). Fur-
ther considerations are time and financial resources (Herdman et al., 2016;
Lattof, 2018). The framework derived from our investigation provides a more
comprehensive overview on HCSB in migrants (Luiking et al., 2018) and de-
97
