Abstract
BackgroundDuring the 90s, Greece has been transformed to a host country for immigrants mostly from the Balkans and Eastern European Countries, who currently constitute approximately 9% of the total population. Despite the increasing number of the immigrants, little is known about their health status and their accessibility to healthcare services. This study aimed to explore the perceived barriers to access and utilization of healthcare services by immigrants in Greece.MethodsA pilot cross-sectional study was conducted from January to April 2012 in Athens, Greece. The study population consisted of 191 immigrants who were living in Greece for less than 10 years. We developed a questionnaire that included information about sociodemographic characteristics, health status, public health services knowledge and utilization and difficulties in health services access. Statistical analysis included Pearson’s ×2 test, ×2 test for trend, Student’s t-test, analysis of variance and Pearson’s correlation coefficient.ResultsOnly 20.4% of the participants reported that they had a good/very good degree of knowledge about public health services in Greece. A considerable percentage (62.3%) of the participants needed at least once to use health services but they could not afford it, during the last year, while 49.7% used public health services in the last 12 months in Greece. Among the most important problems were long waiting times in hospitals, difficulties in communication with health professionals and high cost of health care. Increased ability to speak Greek was associated with increased health services knowledge (p<0.001). Increased family monthly income was also associated with less difficulties in accessing health services (p<0.001).ConclusionsThe empowerment and facilitation of health care access for immigrants in Greece is necessary. Depending on the needs of the migrant population, simple measures such as comprehensive information regarding the available health services and the terms for accessibility is an important step towards enabling better access to needed services.
Highlights
During the 90s, Greece has been transformed to a host country for immigrants mostly from the Balkans and Eastern European Countries, who currently constitute approximately 9% of the total population
This study aimed to explore the perceived barriers to access and utilization of healthcare services by immigrants in Greece
Increased ability to speak Greek was associated with increased health services knowledge (×2 test for trend=24.3, p
Summary
During the 90s, Greece has been transformed to a host country for immigrants mostly from the Balkans and Eastern European Countries, who currently constitute approximately 9% of the total population. Despite the increasing number of the immigrants, little is known about their health status and their accessibility to healthcare services. This study aimed to explore the perceived barriers to access and utilization of healthcare services by immigrants in Greece. With immigrants being one of them, have been left behind and, in many instances, as economies falter, health inequalities are growing within and between countries. Since the early ‘90s it has transformed into a country which hosts immigrants, mainly from the Balkans [2]. In 2009, 958.000 immigrants (both documented and undocumented) were estimated to be living in Greece comprising 9% of the population [3]. Most of the immigrants are coming from Albania (58%) and countries from Eastern Europe (Ukraine, Moldavia, Georgia etc.) at a percentage of (14%) while immigrants from Asia and Africa are estimated to be 10% of migrant population
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