Equity in the Access of Chinese Immigrants to Healthcare Services in Portugal

Sandra Lopes Aparício (), Ivone Duarte, Luísa Castro and Rui Nunes
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Sandra Lopes Aparício: Center for Health Technology and Services Research (CINTESIS), Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal
Ivone Duarte: Center for Health Technology and Services Research (CINTESIS), Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal
Luísa Castro: Center for Health Technology and Services Research (CINTESIS), Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal
Rui Nunes: Department of Community Medicine, Information and Health Decision Sciences (MEDCIDS), Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 3, 1-11

Abstract: International studies indicate that Chinese immigrants face barriers when trying to access healthcare in the host country. The aim of this study was to identify the barriers that Chinese immigrants face when accessing the Portuguese National Health Service. An observational, cross-sectional and quantitative study was carried out via a bilingual Portuguese/Mandarin self-completed paper questionnaire was applied. The study population consisted of individuals with Chinese nationality who were residing in mainland Portugal for at least one year and aged 18 years or over. A total of 304 individuals answered the questionnaire. The results show that 284 (93.4%) of the participants had already sought healthcare in Portugal. The participants identified language difficulties and health professionals’ lack of knowledge of Chinese cultural habits as the most significant barriers to accessing healthcare in Portugal. Of a total of 165 participants who sought healthcare in China, confidence in treatment outcomes and health professionals’ knowledge of Chinese cultural habits were the reasons given by 151 (91.5%) individuals. This study reveals the existence of linguistic and cultural barriers that can condition the access of the Chinese immigrant population to healthcare systems. Immigrants’ access to healthcare can be promoted via policies that contribute to proficiency in the Portuguese language and medical literacy among the Chinese immigrant population. It can also be promoted by raising the awareness of health professionals to Chinese cultural habits.

Keywords: healthcare access; health services access; Chinese; barriers; equity; traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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