Use of Health Services and Unmet Need among Adults of Russian, Somali, and Kurdish Origin in Finland.

Katja Çilenti,Eero Lilja,Shadia Rask,Päivikki Koponen,Marko Elovainio,Seppo Koskinen,Anu E Castaneda,Hannamaria Kuusio

doi:10.3390/ijerph18052229

Abstract

Equal access to health care is one of the key policy priorities in many European societies. Previous findings suggest that there may be wide differences in the use of health services between people of migrant origin and the general population. We analyzed cross-sectional data from a random sample of persons of Russian (n = 692), Somali (n = 489), and Kurdish (n = 614) origin and the Health 2011 survey data (n = 1406) representing the general population in Finland. Having at least one outpatient visit to any medical doctor during the previous 12 months was at the same level for groups of Russian and Kurdish origin, but lower for people of Somali origin, compared with the general population. Clear differences were found when examining where health care services were sought: people of migrant origin predominantly visited a doctor at municipal health centers whereas the general population also used private and occupational health care. Self-reported need for doctor’s treatment was especially high among Russian women and Kurdish men and women. Compared to the general population, all migrant origin groups reported much higher levels of unmet medical need and were less satisfied with the treatment they had received. Improving basic-level health services would serve besides the population at large, the wellbeing of the population of migrant origin.

Highlights

Equal access to appropriate, effective health services is essential for equity in health [1,2].Improving access to health care is among the priority objectives for promoting social inclusion and equal opportunities for all [3]
The groups of migrant origin differed from the general population with respect to most of the sociodemographic characteristics
Self-perceived economic hardship among the migrant origin groups was most commonly experienced by the participants of Kurdish origin

Summary

Introduction

Effective health services is essential for equity in health [1,2].Improving access to health care is among the priority objectives for promoting social inclusion and equal opportunities for all [3]. Formal and informal barriers hamper the access of people of migrant origin to adequate health care [4,5]. Reliable data on access to health services are essential for identifying and removing the barriers and providing appropriate services to this population group [6]. The self-reported health of people of migrant origin tends to be poorer than that of the general population [16]. Post-migration factors such as discrimination, exclusion, and marginalization worsen the health status of people of migrant origin [5,17,18,19]. This is especially true for first-generation migrants. It is important to note, the heterogeneity of the populations of migrant origin—considerable differences between and within different groups exist

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion