College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, United States of America.
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2020 Aug 7;15(8):e0237081. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0237081. eCollection 2020.
Approximately 18,000 Syrian refugees have resettled to the United States. Half of these refugees are children, whose age and refugee status jeopardize their abilities to attain quality healthcare. Information on Syrian refugees' health in the U.S. is limited. This qualitative study sought to explore Syrian refugee parents' beliefs, perspectives, and practices regarding their children's health through in-depth interviews.
Eighteen Syrian refugee parents residing in Cincinnati, Ohio were interviewed in Arabic by bilingual researchers using semi-structured in-depth interviews. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and translated. Three members of the research team independently coded each interview using an inductive thematic analysis approach.
Analysis identified four salient themes: stressors preclude health seeking behaviors, parents perceive health barriers, parents are dissatisfied with the healthcare system, and parents use resilience behaviors to overcome barriers. Stressors included poor housing and neighborhoods, reliving traumatic experiences, depression and anxiety, and social isolation. Dissatisfaction included emergency room wait times, lack of testing and prescriptions. Health barriers included missed appointments and inadequate transportation, translation services, health literacy and care coordination. Parents reported resilience through faith, by seeking knowledge, use of natural remedies, and utilizing community resources.
This qualitative study provides information on the beliefs, practices, and behaviors of Syrian refugee parents related to health care utilization of pediatric refugees in the United States. Psychosocial and environmental stressors as well as perceived systemic health barriers, hinder health seeking behaviors in Syrian refugee parents. Culturally relevant care targeting perceived barriers and incorporating resilience behaviors may improve parental satisfaction and parental health seeking behaviors. Further study is needed to implement and evaluate interventions that target identified barriers.
约有 18000 名叙利亚难民已经在美国重新安置。这些难民中一半是儿童，他们的年龄和难民身份危及他们获得高质量医疗保健的能力。关于在美国的叙利亚难民健康的信息是有限的。这项定性研究试图通过深入访谈来探讨叙利亚难民父母对其子女健康的信念、观点和做法。
在俄亥俄州辛辛那提市居住的 18 名叙利亚难民父母由双语研究人员用阿拉伯语进行了半结构化的深入访谈。采访进行了录音、转录和翻译。研究团队的三名成员独立使用归纳主题分析方法对每个访谈进行编码。
分析确定了四个突出的主题：压力源阻止了寻求健康的行为，父母认为存在健康障碍，父母对医疗保健系统不满意，父母使用弹性行为来克服障碍。压力源包括住房和社区条件差、创伤经历再现、抑郁和焦虑以及社会孤立。不满包括急诊室等待时间长、缺乏检查和处方。健康障碍包括预约和交通不足、翻译服务、健康素养和医疗协调。父母通过信仰、寻求知识、使用自然疗法和利用社区资源来报告韧性。
这项定性研究提供了有关美国叙利亚难民父母与儿科难民医疗保健利用相关的信念、实践和行为的信息。心理社会和环境压力源以及感知到的系统健康障碍阻碍了叙利亚难民父母寻求健康的行为。针对感知障碍和融入弹性行为的文化相关护理可能会提高父母的满意度和父母寻求健康的行为。需要进一步研究以实施和评估针对确定障碍的干预措施。
