Barriers and facilitators of providing primary health care to Afghan refugees: A qualitative study from the perspective of health care providers.

Abstract

Background: One of the important aspects in the field of refugee health is the availability of primary health care, and the quality improvement of health care requires identifying barriers and facilitators. The present study aimed to identify obstacles and facilitators of providing primary health care to Afghan refugees from the perspective of health care providers. Methods: In this qualitative study, a semi-structured interview was conducted based on purposeful sampling with the involvement of 21 managers and experts in primary health care centers. Data were analyzed using the content analysis method and MaxQDA. Results: Data analysis led to the production of 4 main themes: (1) challenges while providing primary health care, with 10 subthemes; (2) challenges after providing care, with 4 subthemes; (3) opportunities, with 3 subthemes; and (4) solutions, with 6 subthemes. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, identifying the challenges and providing opportunities and solutions to existing problems seem to be effective steps in the quality improvement of providing primary health care to refugees.