Health screening and preventative health care in refugee women: A qualitative analysis

Background: Regular health screening provides opportunities for early detection and effective treatment of disease. There is underutilisation of health services by migrants from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, particularly refugees in Australia. Aim: To explore the beliefs, unders...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Contemporary nurse : a journal for the Australian nursing profession 2020-01, Vol.56 (1), p.62-79
Main Authors: Babatunde-Sowole, Olutoyin O., Power, Tamara, Davidson, Patricia M., DiGiacomo, Michelle, Jackson, Debra
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
culture
Nursing
preventative health
qualitative study
refugee
refugee women's health
screening
secondary analysis
West African women
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Summary:Background: Regular health screening provides opportunities for early detection and effective treatment of disease. There is underutilisation of health services by migrants from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, particularly refugees in Australia. Aim: To explore the beliefs, understandings, and use of health and healthcare screening services among African refugee women living in Australia. Design/Method: Qualitative secondary analysis. Method: Oral narratives derived from two primary qualitative datasets of Sub-Saharan women in New South Wales, Australia, underwent secondary thematic analysis. Findings: Twenty-two of the forty-two women had refugee status on migrating to Australia. Thematic findings reflection of misinformation, low health literacy, and health screening as not a priority. Conclusions: There is an urgent need to develop innovative strategies to engage refugee migrant women in health screening by provision of culturally meaningful health information. Relevance to clinical practice: Including refugee women's suggestions for information to be provided by health services may improve attitudes towards screening and preventative health care.
ISSN:1037-6178
1839-3535
DOI:10.1080/10376178.2020.1739543