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"They think we're OK and we know we're not". A qualitative study of asylum seekers' access, knowledge and views to health care in the UK

BACKGROUND: The provision of healthcare for asylum seekers is a global issue. Providing appropriate and culturally sensitive services requires us to understand the barriers facing asylum seekers and the facilitators that help them access health care. Here, we report on two linked studies exploring t...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: O'Donnell, Catherine A, Higgins, Maria, Chauhan, Rohan, Mullen, Kenneth
Formato: Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2007
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1892018/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17537258
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-7-75
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author O'Donnell, Catherine A
Higgins, Maria
Chauhan, Rohan
Mullen, Kenneth
author_facet O'Donnell, Catherine A
Higgins, Maria
Chauhan, Rohan
Mullen, Kenneth
author_sort O'Donnell, Catherine A
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: The provision of healthcare for asylum seekers is a global issue. Providing appropriate and culturally sensitive services requires us to understand the barriers facing asylum seekers and the facilitators that help them access health care. Here, we report on two linked studies exploring these issues, along with the health care needs and beliefs of asylum seekers living in the UK. METHODS: Two qualitative methods were employed: focus groups facilitated by members of the asylum seeking community and interviews, either one-to-one or in a group, conducted through an interpreter. Analysis was facilitated using the Framework method. RESULTS: Most asylum seekers were registered with a GP, facilitated for some by an Asylum Support nurse. Many experienced difficulty getting timely appointments with their doctor, especially for self-limiting symptoms that they felt could become more serious, especially in children. Most were positive about the health care they received, although some commented on the lack of continuity. However, there was surprise and disappointment at the length of waiting times both for hospital appointments and when attending accident and emergency departments. Most had attended a dentist, but usually only when there was a clinical need. The provision of interpreters in primary care was generally good, although there was a tension between interpreters translating verbatim and acting as patient advocates. Access to interpreters in other settings, e.g. in-patient hospital stays, was problematic. Barriers included the cost of over-the-counter medication, e.g. children's paracetamol; knowledge of out-of-hours medical care; and access to specialists in secondary care. Most respondents came from countries with no system of primary medical care, which impacted on their expectations of the UK system. CONCLUSION: Most asylum seekers were positive about their experiences of health care. However, we have identified issues regarding their understanding of how the UK system works, in particular the role of general practitioners and referral to hospital specialists. The provision of an Asylum Support nurse was clearly a facilitator to accessing primary medical care. Initiatives to increase their awareness and understanding of the UK system would be beneficial. Interpreting services also need to be developed, in particular their role in secondary care and the development of the role of interpreter as patient advocate.
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spelling pubmed-18920182007-06-14 "They think we're OK and we know we're not". A qualitative study of asylum seekers' access, knowledge and views to health care in the UK O'Donnell, Catherine A Higgins, Maria Chauhan, Rohan Mullen, Kenneth BMC Health Serv Res Research Article BACKGROUND: The provision of healthcare for asylum seekers is a global issue. Providing appropriate and culturally sensitive services requires us to understand the barriers facing asylum seekers and the facilitators that help them access health care. Here, we report on two linked studies exploring these issues, along with the health care needs and beliefs of asylum seekers living in the UK. METHODS: Two qualitative methods were employed: focus groups facilitated by members of the asylum seeking community and interviews, either one-to-one or in a group, conducted through an interpreter. Analysis was facilitated using the Framework method. RESULTS: Most asylum seekers were registered with a GP, facilitated for some by an Asylum Support nurse. Many experienced difficulty getting timely appointments with their doctor, especially for self-limiting symptoms that they felt could become more serious, especially in children. Most were positive about the health care they received, although some commented on the lack of continuity. However, there was surprise and disappointment at the length of waiting times both for hospital appointments and when attending accident and emergency departments. Most had attended a dentist, but usually only when there was a clinical need. The provision of interpreters in primary care was generally good, although there was a tension between interpreters translating verbatim and acting as patient advocates. Access to interpreters in other settings, e.g. in-patient hospital stays, was problematic. Barriers included the cost of over-the-counter medication, e.g. children's paracetamol; knowledge of out-of-hours medical care; and access to specialists in secondary care. Most respondents came from countries with no system of primary medical care, which impacted on their expectations of the UK system. CONCLUSION: Most asylum seekers were positive about their experiences of health care. However, we have identified issues regarding their understanding of how the UK system works, in particular the role of general practitioners and referral to hospital specialists. The provision of an Asylum Support nurse was clearly a facilitator to accessing primary medical care. Initiatives to increase their awareness and understanding of the UK system would be beneficial. Interpreting services also need to be developed, in particular their role in secondary care and the development of the role of interpreter as patient advocate. BioMed Central 2007-05-30 /pmc/articles/PMC1892018/ /pubmed/17537258 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-7-75 Text en Copyright © 2007 O'Donnell et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Research Article
O'Donnell, Catherine A
Higgins, Maria
Chauhan, Rohan
Mullen, Kenneth
"They think we're OK and we know we're not". A qualitative study of asylum seekers' access, knowledge and views to health care in the UK
title "They think we're OK and we know we're not". A qualitative study of asylum seekers' access, knowledge and views to health care in the UK
title_full "They think we're OK and we know we're not". A qualitative study of asylum seekers' access, knowledge and views to health care in the UK
title_fullStr "They think we're OK and we know we're not". A qualitative study of asylum seekers' access, knowledge and views to health care in the UK
title_full_unstemmed "They think we're OK and we know we're not". A qualitative study of asylum seekers' access, knowledge and views to health care in the UK
title_short "They think we're OK and we know we're not". A qualitative study of asylum seekers' access, knowledge and views to health care in the UK
title_sort "they think we're ok and we know we're not". a qualitative study of asylum seekers' access, knowledge and views to health care in the uk
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1892018/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17537258
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-7-75
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