Oral and emotional health experience of refugees’ in the state of Massachusetts - A mixed methods approach

Shaikha Aldukhail, Anubhuti Shukla, Mohammad Tareq Khadra, Ziad Al Hennawi, Samantha Jordan, Tamara J Cadet and Hend Alqaderi

PLOS ONE, 2023, vol. 18, issue 3, 1-13

Abstract: Objectives: In this study, we aimed to explore the oral and emotional health challenges experienced by a sample of refugees in Massachusetts across different stages of resettlement using a mixed methods approach. Methods: We collaborated with two Federally Qualified Health Centers to identify and recruit participants for either surveys (n = 69) or semi-structured interviews (n = 12). Data collection was conducted in 2018. We performed descriptive statistics using STATA 14, and analyzed the interviews using qualitative methods. Results: Overall, cost and lack of structure were the largest barriers identified for accessing dental care in participants’ home and host countries. In the US, participants reported receiving state-provided public health insurance, but still experienced disrupted access to dental care due to coverage limitations. We identified several mental health risk factors that may affect participants’ oral health, including trauma, depression, and sleeping problems. Despite these challenges, participants also identified areas of resilience and adaptability in both attitude and actions. Conclusions: The themes identified in our study suggest that refugees have attitudes, beliefs, and experiences that contribute to their perspectives on oral health care. While some of the reported barriers to access dental care were attitudinal, others were structural. Access to dental care in the US was reported to be structured and available, but with limited coverage issues. This paper underscores the oral and emotional health aspects of refugees for future considerations and planning of appropriate, affordable and cost-effective policies in the global health care systems.

Date: 2023
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0281361 (text/html)
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id= ... 81361&type=printable (application/pdf)

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:plo:pone00:0281361

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0281361

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in PLOS ONE from Public Library of Science
Bibliographic data for series maintained by plosone ().