Preparedness of Health Care Professionals for Delivering Sexual and Reproductive Health Care to Refugee and Migrant Women: A Mixed Methods Study

Zelalem B. Mengesha, Janette Perz, Tinashe Dune and Jane Ussher
Additional contact information
Zelalem B. Mengesha: Translational Health Research Institute (THRI), School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia
Janette Perz: Translational Health Research Institute (THRI), School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia
Tinashe Dune: Translational Health Research Institute (THRI), School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia
Jane Ussher: Translational Health Research Institute (THRI), School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Past research suggests that factors related to health care professionals’ (HCPs) knowledge, training and competency can contribute to the underutilisation of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) care by refugee and migrant women. The aim of this study was to examine the perceived preparedness of HCPs in relation to their knowledge, confidence and training needs when it comes to consulting refugee and migrant women seeking SRH care in Australia. A sequential mixed methods design, comprising an online survey with 79 HCPs (45.6% nurses, 30.3% general practitioners (GPs), 16.5% health promotion officers, and 7.6% allied health professionals) and semi-structured interviews with 21 HCPs, was utilised. HCPs recognised refugee and migrant women’s SRH as a complex issue that requires unique skills for the delivery of optimal care. However, they reported a lack of training (59.4% of nurses, 50% of GPs, and 38.6% of health promotion officers) and knowledge (27.8% of nurses, 20.8% of GPs, and 30.8% of health promotion officers) in addressing refugee and migrant women’s SRH. The majority of participants (88.9% of nurses, 75% of GPs, and 76% of health promotion officers) demonstrated willingness to engage with further training in refugee and migrant women’s SRH. The implications of the findings are argued regarding the need to train HCPs in culturally sensitive care and include the SRH of refugee and migrant women in university and professional development curricula in meeting the needs of this growing and vulnerable group of women.

Keywords: refugee and migrant women; sexual and reproductive health; training; knowledge; confidence; health care professionals (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/1/174/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/1/174/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2018:i:1:p:174-:d:128151

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().