Exploring Healthcare Access Challenges Among South Asian Migrants in Australia: A Mixed-Method Study

IF 1.4 4区医学 Q3 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

Health Promotion Journal of Australia Pub Date : 2025-02-04 DOI:10.1002/hpja.70008

Mehwish Nisar, Nathalia Costa, Tracy Kolbe-Alexander, Asaduzzaman Khan

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Abstract

Issue Addressed

Healthcare access disparities, particularly among migrant populations, are escalating. This research focuses on exploring aspects related to healthcare access disparities in the rapidly growing South Asian communities in Australia, which bear a disproportionate burden of chronic diseases.

Methods

This study employed an exploratory sequential mixed-method approach (qualitative followed by quantitative), with five focus group discussions (six to eight participants each) and an online survey (n = 460). NVivo and SPSS were used for qualitative and quantitative analysis, respectively.

Results

The study participants are from South Asia, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Thematic analysis of focus group discussions identified factors influencing healthcare service utilisation among migrants, including a preference for home remedies over doctor consultations, language barriers, limited access to relevant information, high costs of specialist and dental care, dissatisfaction with rushed doctor interactions and system-related concerns. One in six survey respondents encountered challenges in accessing timely healthcare, with the most frequently reported barriers being prolonged waiting times (72%), out-of-pocket expenses (48%), and limited awareness and availability of services (36%). Migrants with multiple chronic diseases faced the highest barriers to accessing timely healthcare (57.8%), with significantly higher odds of encountering these barriers than those with no or one chronic condition (OR = 0.436, 95% CI = 0.222–0.856).

Conclusions

South Asian migrants face challenges to access affordable, timely, patient-centred healthcare. A robust collaboration between services, healthcare providers and the community is essential for sustainable solutions.

So What?

Reducing waiting times and language barriers, improving awareness of available services and enhancing access to affordable specialist and dental services are imperative to foster equitable healthcare outcomes for Australia's diverse population.

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探索医疗保健在澳大利亚的南亚移民的挑战：一项混合方法研究

获得医疗保健的差距，特别是移民人口之间的差距正在扩大。本研究的重点是探索在澳大利亚快速增长的南亚社区中与医疗保健获取差距相关的方面，这些社区承担着不成比例的慢性病负担。方法本研究采用探索性顺序混合方法（定性后定量），包括5个焦点小组讨论（每个小组6 - 8人）和一个在线调查（n = 460）。采用NVivo软件进行定性分析，SPSS软件进行定量分析。研究参与者来自南亚，包括阿富汗、孟加拉国、不丹、印度、马尔代夫、巴基斯坦、尼泊尔和斯里兰卡。焦点小组讨论的专题分析确定了影响移民利用医疗保健服务的因素，包括更喜欢家庭疗法而不是医生咨询、语言障碍、获得相关信息的途径有限、专科和牙科护理费用高、对匆忙与医生互动的不满以及与系统相关的问题。六分之一的受访者在获得及时医疗保健方面遇到了挑战，最常见的障碍是等待时间过长（72%）、自付费用（48%）以及对服务的认识和可用性有限（36%）。患有多种慢性病的移民在获得及时医疗保健方面面临的障碍最大（57.8%），遇到这些障碍的几率明显高于没有或只有一种慢性病的移民（or = 0.436, 95% CI = 0.222-0.856）。南亚移民面临着获得负担得起的、及时的、以患者为中心的医疗保健的挑战。服务部门、医疗保健提供者和社区之间的强有力协作对于可持续解决方案至关重要。那又怎样?减少等待时间和语言障碍，提高对现有服务的认识，增加获得负担得起的专家和牙科服务的机会，对于促进澳大利亚多样化人口的公平医疗保健结果至关重要。

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来源期刊

Health Promotion Journal of Australia PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH-

CiteScore

3.10

自引率

10.50%

发文量

115

期刊介绍： The purpose of the Health Promotion Journal of Australia is to facilitate communication between researchers, practitioners, and policymakers involved in health promotion activities. Preference for publication is given to practical examples of policies, theories, strategies and programs which utilise educational, organisational, economic and/or environmental approaches to health promotion. The journal also publishes brief reports discussing programs, professional viewpoints, and guidelines for practice or evaluation methodology. The journal features articles, brief reports, editorials, perspectives, "of interest", viewpoints, book reviews and letters.