Priorities and challenges accessing health care among female migrants

Samantha R. Lattof, Ernestina Coast () and Tiziana Leone

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: Women’s ability to access health care requires access to and control of resources as well as the ability to make personal health decisions. Female migrants may experience additional challenges in accessing health care due to marginalization and vulnerability resulting from both their gender and their migrant status. Rural-to-urban migrant women working in the informal sector, such as Ghana’s head porters (kayayei), experience exclusion from the health system, risk of being uninsured, and poor health outcomes. Kayeyei’s survival needs (e.g., food, water) and a need to provide for their families can mean that migrant kayayei avoid health care expenses for illnesses or injuries. To ensure equal access to health care for migrant and non-migrant populations, health insurance is crucial. Yet, improving access to health care and service uptake requires more than health insurance. Incorporating culturally-appropriate care into the provision of health services, or even developing specific migrant-friendly health services, could improve health service uptake and health awareness among migrants. Public health systems should also take account of migrants’ financial situations and priorities in the design and delivery of health services

Keywords: health insurance; health care-seeking behavior; determinants; perceptions; poverty; access; urban health; gender; informal sector; population movement; migration; Ghana (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-10-30
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea, nep-ias and nep-mig
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published in Health Services Insights, 30, October, 2018, 11. ISSN: 1178-6329

Downloads: (external link)
http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/90288/ Open access version. (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:ehl:lserod:90288

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library LSE Library Portugal Street London, WC2A 2HD, U.K.. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by LSERO Manager ().