Abstract
BackgroundSince 2010 there has been a growing population of refugees and asylum seekers in Latin America. This study sought to investigate the perceived experiences and healthcare needs of refugees and asylum seekers of Latin American origin in Chile in order to identify main barriers to healthcare and provide guidance on allied challenges for the public healthcare system.MethodsDescriptive qualitative case study with semi-structured interviews applied to refugees and asylum seekers (n = 8), healthcare workers (n = 4), and members of Non-Governmental Organizations and religious foundations focused on working with refugees and asylum seekers in Chile (n = 2).ResultsAlthough Chilean law guarantees access to all levels of healthcare for the international migrant population, the specific healthcare needs of refugees and asylum seekers were not adequately covered. Primary care and mental healthcare were the most required types of service for participants, yet they appeared to be the most difficult to access. Difficulties in social integration -including access to healthcare, housing, and education- upon arrival and lengthy waiting times for legal status of refugees also presented great barriers to effective healthcare provision and wellbeing. Healthcare workers and members of organizations indicated the need for more information about refugee and asylum-seeking populations, their rights and conditions, as well as more effective and tailored healthcare interventions for them, especially for emergency mental healthcare situations.ConclusionsAll participants perceived that there was disinformation among institutional actors regarding the healthcare needs of refugees and asylum seekers in Chile. They also perceived that there were barriers to access to primary care and mental healthcare, which might lead to overuse of emergency services. This study highlights a sense of urgency to protect the social and healthcare needs of refugees and asylum seekers in Latin America.
Highlights
Protection of the rights of refugees and asylum seekers is a global task with urgent pending challenges [1]
Descriptive qualitative case study with semi-structured interviews applied to refugees and asylum seekers (n = 8), healthcare workers (n = 4), and members of Non-Governmental Organizations and religious foundations focused on working with refugees and asylum seekers in Chile (n = 2)
We had the collaboration of several organizations to perform this study: A religious Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Fundacion Ayuda Social de las Iglesias Cristianas (FASIC), the academic organization Universidad Diego Portales (UDP), the international agency The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and a number of municipalities in the Metropolitan Region of Santiago, Chile
Summary
Protection of the rights of refugees and asylum seekers is a global task with urgent pending challenges [1]. Little is known about who those refugee and asylum seekers in Latin America really are, and their particular social and healthcare needs. In Chile, migration has increased in recent decades, along with growth of refugee and asylum applications and the increase in waiting times for visa regulation [4,5]. Little research has been conducted in relation to the living conditions and healthcare needs of asylum seekers in the South American region [9,10]. This study sought to investigate the perceived experiences and healthcare needs of refugees and asylum seekers of Latin American origin in Chile in order to identify main barriers to healthcare and provide guidance on allied challenges for the public healthcare system
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