Barriers Faced by Refugees to Access Health Care Services in Finland
Kaur, Sukhwinder (2021)
Kaur, Sukhwinder
2021
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2021060915356
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2021060915356
Tiivistelmä
The main aim of the thesis was to identify various internal, structural, financial, and socio-cultural and communicational barriers faced by refugees in accessing health care services in Finland, and to propose suggestions to overcome those barriers. The thesis was a part of the Master’s degree programme in Global Health and Crisis Management offered by Laurea University of Applied Sciences in Finland. The population on which the research was conducted were refugees in a reception center of South Finland. Ethical issues related to the thesis were evaluated by “The Human Sciences Ethics Committee of the Helsinki Region Universities of Applied Sciences”. The data were collected after the ethical evaluation and permission from the reception center. The existing literature suggested the presence of barriers like lack of awareness, language, acculturation, scheduling conflicts, and long waiting lists. Inadequate cooperation at different levels, lack of will and means to cooperate, legal and economic barriers have also been reported in the past by different studies. Qualitative methods were used to conduct this thesis. The sample size was nine as it was the saturation point. Convenience sampling method was used in recruitment of participants and the data were analysed using deductive content analysis method. The data were collected by focused interviews, analysed and managed in a professional way using the ethical code of conduct.
This thesis found out that the internal barriers in health care in Finland for refugees were internal fear, refugees’ own attitude, lack of knowledge of the complicated health care system, and mistrust in the beginning because of hard and bad experiences with health care professionals in other countries where they stayed as refugees before reaching Finland. The structural barriers faced by refugees while accessing health care in Finland were the long distance between hospitals and reception centers, long waiting times for appointments, scarcity of public transport in remote areas, and missing previous reports. The financial barriers in Finland faced by refugees were insufficient finances available for phone calls to be made for booking appointments when calls are long, and some financial difficulties in case they need to buy some medicines from their available monthly allowances. The communicational and socio- cultural barriers faced by refugees in Finland were the difficulty to understand the Finnish language, difficulty with interpreters, cultural differences, and lack of cultural competency in health care system.
Despite of the barriers faced by refugees in accessing the health care system in Finland, almost all the participants appreciated the health care system, and health care professionals in one way or the other. The suggestion given by the participants to reduce the barriers was creating a parallel health care system for refugees to have easy access and less waiting time. To reduce communicational barriers participants suggested providing information in more languages than Finnish and English. To reduce cultural barriers more culturally competent health care professionals were suggested. The distance between hospitals and reception centers should be smaller to reduce structural barriers.
This thesis found out that the internal barriers in health care in Finland for refugees were internal fear, refugees’ own attitude, lack of knowledge of the complicated health care system, and mistrust in the beginning because of hard and bad experiences with health care professionals in other countries where they stayed as refugees before reaching Finland. The structural barriers faced by refugees while accessing health care in Finland were the long distance between hospitals and reception centers, long waiting times for appointments, scarcity of public transport in remote areas, and missing previous reports. The financial barriers in Finland faced by refugees were insufficient finances available for phone calls to be made for booking appointments when calls are long, and some financial difficulties in case they need to buy some medicines from their available monthly allowances. The communicational and socio- cultural barriers faced by refugees in Finland were the difficulty to understand the Finnish language, difficulty with interpreters, cultural differences, and lack of cultural competency in health care system.
Despite of the barriers faced by refugees in accessing the health care system in Finland, almost all the participants appreciated the health care system, and health care professionals in one way or the other. The suggestion given by the participants to reduce the barriers was creating a parallel health care system for refugees to have easy access and less waiting time. To reduce communicational barriers participants suggested providing information in more languages than Finnish and English. To reduce cultural barriers more culturally competent health care professionals were suggested. The distance between hospitals and reception centers should be smaller to reduce structural barriers.