Migration and access to sexual and reproductive health from the perspective of health agents in northern Chile.

Abstract

Introduction: Due to the increase and feminization of migration in Chile, and the resulting boost in the demand for sexual and reproductive health consultations, there is a need for analizaing migrants' access to health services from the health agents' perspective.

Objective: To characterize migrants' access to sexual and reproductive healthcare from the health agents' perspective.

Methods: Exploratory-descriptive qualitative study with a phenomenological approach. Theoretical sampling included midwives from primary health care (n=4) and staff from NGOs working with migrants (n=7). Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and a focus group, and then analyzed with ATLAS.ti.

Results: Through healthcare agents, we found that there are gaps in the migrants' access to sexual and reproductive healthcare, which are associated to a lack of information on the Chilean health system, the distance between their living places and the health centers, and health not being migrants' priority, plus other gaps affecting the LGBTQIA+ community. The agents also give suggestions on how to mitigate these gaps, such as increasing information strategies and facilitating cross-sector collaboration. There are positive elements as well, such as the primary healthcare teams' knowledge of health profiles per nationality, ability to fit their speech, and willingness to adapt healthcare to the different cultural practices.

Conclusión: There are gaps in the access of health care and use of sexual and reproductive health services by migrants, which are mainly associated to the lack of information on their rights in Chile and ignorance of sexual and reproductive health services. Information strategies should be expanded towards migrants.