IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/hepoli/v123y2019i9p833-839.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Barriers to health care access and service utilization of refugees in Austria: Evidence from a cross-sectional survey

Author

Listed:
  • Kohlenberger, Judith
  • Buber-Ennser, Isabella
  • Rengs, Bernhard
  • Leitner, Sebastian
  • Landesmann, Michael

Abstract

This paper provides evidence on (1) refugees’ subjective well-being, (2) their access and barriers to health care utilization and (3) their perception of health care provision in Austria, one of the countries most heavily affected by the European ‘refugee crisis.’ It is based on primary data from the Refugee Health and Integration Survey (ReHIS), a cross-sectional survey of roughly five hundred Syrian, Iraqi and Afghan refugees. Results indicate that refugees’ self-rated health falls below the resident population’s, in particular for female and Afghan refugees. Whereas respondents state overall high satisfaction with the Austrian health system, two in ten male and four in ten female refugees report unmet health needs. Most frequently cited barriers include scheduling conflicts, long waiting lists, lack of knowledge about doctors, and language. Although treatment costs were not frequently considered as barriers, consultation of specialist medical services frequently associated with co-payment by patients, in particular dental care, are significantly less often consulted by refugees than by Austrians. Refugees reported comparably high utilization of hospital services, with daycare treatment more common than inpatient stays. We recommend to improve refugees’ access to health care in Austria by a) improving the information flow about available treatment, in particular specialists, b) fostering dental health care for refugees, and c) addressing language barriers by providing (web-based) interpretation services.

Suggested Citation

  • Kohlenberger, Judith & Buber-Ennser, Isabella & Rengs, Bernhard & Leitner, Sebastian & Landesmann, Michael, 2019. "Barriers to health care access and service utilization of refugees in Austria: Evidence from a cross-sectional survey," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(9), pages 833-839.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:hepoli:v:123:y:2019:i:9:p:833-839
    DOI: 10.1016/j.healthpol.2019.01.014
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168851018305335
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.healthpol.2019.01.014?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lindert, Jutta & Ehrenstein, Ondine S. von & Priebe, Stefan & Mielck, Andreas & Brähler, Elmar, 2009. "Depression and anxiety in labor migrants and refugees - A systematic review and meta-analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 246-257, July.
    2. Kayvan Bozorgmehr & Oliver Razum, 2015. "Effect of Restricting Access to Health Care on Health Expenditures among Asylum-Seekers and Refugees: A Quasi-Experimental Study in Germany, 1994–2013," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(7), pages 1-22, July.
    3. Bischoff, Alexander & Bovier, Patrick A. & Isah, Rrustemi & Francoise, Gariazzo & Ariel, Eytan & Louis, Loutan, 2003. "Language barriers between nurses and asylum seekers: their impact on symptom reporting and referral," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 57(3), pages 503-512, August.
    4. Isabella Buber-Ennser & Judith Kohlenberger & Bernhard Rengs & Zakarya Al Zalak & Anne Goujon & Erich Striessnig & Michaela Potančoková & Richard Gisser & Maria Rita Testa & Wolfgang Lutz, 2016. "Human Capital, Values, and Attitudes of Persons Seeking Refuge in Austria in 2015," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(9), pages 1-29, September.
    5. Bruce Newbold, K., 2005. "Self-rated health within the Canadian immigrant population: risk and the healthy immigrant effect," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 60(6), pages 1359-1370, March.
    6. Meeusen, Wim & van den Broeck, Julien, 1977. "Efficiency Estimation from Cobb-Douglas Production Functions with Composed Error," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 18(2), pages 435-444, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Clara Albrecht & Maria Hofbauer Pérez & Tanja Stitteneder, 2021. "Migrationsmonitor: Die Bedeutung geschlechtsspezifischer Ansätze für die Integration von weiblichen Geflüchteten," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 74(04), pages 63-69, April.
    2. Clara Albrecht & Maria Hofbauer Pérez & Tanja Stitteneder, 2021. "The Integration Challenges of Female Refugees and Migrants: Where Do We Stand?," CESifo Forum, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 22(02), pages 39-46, March.
    3. Nazik M. Nurelhuda & Mark T. Keboa & Herenia P. Lawrence & Belinda Nicolau & Mary Ellen Macdonald, 2021. "Advancing Our Understanding of Dental Care Pathways of Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Canada: A Qualitative Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-11, August.
    4. Saleh Aljadeeah & Veronika J. Wirtz & Eckhard Nagel, 2021. "Barriers to Accessing Medicines among Syrian Asylum Seekers and Refugees in a German Federal State," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-16, January.
    5. Qingjun Zhao & Meijing Song & Hanrui Wang, 2022. "Voting with Your Feet: The Impact of Urban Public Health Service Accessibility on the Permanent Migration Intentions of Rural Migrants in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-20, November.
    6. Theodorou Andreas & Koufioti Georgia & EKounios Athanasios & Dr. Vlachadi Maria, 2023. "A Study of the Factors Affecting Dental Community Health in a Multicultural Immigrant Educational Environment. A Systematic Review of the Recent Scientific Articles," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(4), pages 278-297, April.
    7. Yonas Semere Kidane & Sandra Ziegler & Verena Keck & Janine Benson-Martin & Albrecht Jahn & Temesghen Gebresilassie & Claudia Beiersmann, 2021. "Eritrean Refugees’ and Asylum-Seekers’ Attitude towards and Access to Oral Healthcare in Heidelberg, Germany: A Qualitative Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-20, November.
    8. Ellen Heidinger, 2023. "Overcoming Barriers to Service Access: Refugees’ Professional Support Service Utilization and the Impact of Human and Social Capital," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 271-312, March.
    9. Sadatoshi Matsuoka & Madhu Kharel & Kyoko Koto-Shimada & Maiko Hashimoto & Hiroyuki Kiyohara & Azusa Iwamoto & Mika Nishihara & Masami Fujita, 2022. "Access to Health-Related Information, Health Services, and Welfare Services among South and Southeast Asian Immigrants in Japan: A Qualitative Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-12, September.
    10. Christine Happle & Christian Dopfer & Diana Ernst & Evelyn Kleinert & Annabelle Vakilzadeh & Susanne Hellms & Iro Evlampidou & Nele Hillermann & Reinhold E. Schmidt & Georg M. N. Behrens & Frank Mülle, 2019. "Pediatric Healthcare Utilization in a Large Cohort of Refugee Children Entering Western Europe During the Migrant Crisis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-11, November.
    11. Nielsen, Maj Rørdam & Jervelund, Signe Smith, 2023. "Impacts of an interpretation fee on immigrants’ access to healthcare: Evidence from a Danish survey study among newly arrived immigrants," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    12. Stefan Jestl & Michael Landesmann & Sebastian Leitner & Sandra M. Leitner & Isilda Mara & Maryna Tverdostup, 2023. "wiiw Studies on the Integration of Middle Eastern Refugees in Austria, Based on FIMAS Surveys and Register-based Labour Market Career Data," wiiw Policy Notes 74, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    13. Stefan Jestl & Maryna Tverdostup, 2023. "The Labour Market Entry and Integration of Refugees and Other Migrants in Austria," wiiw Working Papers 231, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    14. Anna Christina Nowak & Yudit Namer & Claudia Hornberg, 2022. "Health Care for Refugees in Europe: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-10, January.
    15. Judith Kohlenberger & Milda Žilinskaitė & Aida Hajro & Irina Vafiadis & Sabina Bikic, 2021. "Essential, yet invisible: working conditions of Amazon delivery workers during COVID-19 and beyond," Working Paper Reihe der AK Wien - Materialien zu Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft 230, Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte für Wien, Abteilung Wirtschaftswissenschaft und Statistik.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ferdinand Garoff & Natalia Skogberg & Antti Klemettilä & Eero Lilja & Awa Ahmed Haji Omar & Olli Snellman & Anu E. Castaneda, 2021. "Mental Health and Traumatization of Newly Arrived Asylum Seeker Adults in Finland: A Population-Based Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-12, July.
    2. Yves Jackson & Adeline Paignon & Hans Wolff & Noelia Delicado, 2018. "Health of undocumented migrants in primary care in Switzerland," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(7), pages 1-13, July.
    3. Jaschke, Philipp & Kosyakova, Yuliya, 2020. "Does facilitated access to the health system improve asylum-seekers' health outcomes? : Evidence from a quasi-experiment," IAB-Discussion Paper 201907, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    4. Paul Hewson & Keming Yu, 2008. "Quantile regression for binary performance indicators," Applied Stochastic Models in Business and Industry, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(5), pages 401-418, September.
    5. Lundgren, Tommy & Marklund, Per-Olov & Zhang, Shanshan, 2016. "Industrial energy demand and energy efficiency – Evidence from Sweden," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 130-152.
    6. Jia Lu & Shabana Jamani & Joseph Benjamen & Eric Agbata & Olivia Magwood & Kevin Pottie, 2020. "Global Mental Health and Services for Migrants in Primary Care Settings in High-Income Countries: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-28, November.
    7. António Afonso & Ana Patricia Montes & José M. Domínguez, 2024. "Measuring Tax Burden Efficiency in OECD Countries: An International Comparison," CESifo Working Paper Series 11333, CESifo.
    8. Khanal, Aditya & Koirala, Krishna & Regmi, Madhav, 2016. "Do Financial Constraints Affect Production Efficiency in Drought Prone Areas? A Case from Indonesian Rice Growers," 2016 Annual Meeting, February 6-9, 2016, San Antonio, Texas 230087, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    9. Wu, Yanrui, 1995. "The productive efficiency of Chinese iron and steel firms A stochastic frontier analysis," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 215-222, September.
    10. Firna Varina & Sri Hartoyo & Nunung Kusnadi & Amzul Rifin, 2020. "The Determinants of Technical Efficiency of Oil Palm Smallholders in Indonesia," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 10(6), pages 89-93.
    11. Rossi, Martín, 2000. "Análisis de eficiencia aplicado a la regulación ¿Es importante la Distribución Elegida para el Término de Ineficiencia?," UADE Textos de Discusión 22_2000, Instituto de Economía, Universidad Argentina de la Empresa.
    12. Dhehibi, Boubaker & Lachaal, Lassaad & Elloumi, Mohamed & Messaoud, Emna B., 2007. "Measurement and Sources of Technical Inefficiency in the Tunisian Citrus Growing Sector," 103rd Seminar, April 23-25, 2007, Barcelona, Spain 9391, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    13. Anthony Rezitis & Kostas Tsiboukas & Stauros Tsoukalas, 2002. "Measuring technical efficiency in the Greek agricultural sector," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(11), pages 1345-1357.
    14. Rosen Azad Chowdhury & Dilshad Jahan & Tapas Mishra & Mamata Parhi, 2023. "A Quality Dimension? A Re-appraisal of Financial Development and Economic Growth Nexus in a Quality-Quantity Setting," Working Papers 2023-02, Swansea University, School of Management.
    15. V. Vandenberghe, 2018. "The Contribution of Educated Workers to Firms’ Efficiency Gains: The Key Role of Proximity to the ‘Local’ Frontier," De Economist, Springer, vol. 166(3), pages 259-283, September.
    16. repec:use:tkiwps:1818 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. B. E. Bravo‐Ureta & L. Rieger, 1990. "Alternative Production Frontier Methodologies And Dairy Farm Efficiency," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(2), pages 215-226, May.
    18. Gangopadhyay, Partha & Jain, Siddharth & Bakry, Walid, 2022. "In search of a rational foundation for the massive IT boom in the Australian banking industry: Can the IT boom really drive relationship banking?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    19. Liu, Lili, 1991. "Entry-exit, learning, and productivity change : evidence from Chile," Policy Research Working Paper Series 769, The World Bank.
    20. Sébastien Marchand, 2011. "Technical Efficiency, Farm Size and Tropical Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazonian Forest," Working Papers halshs-00552981, HAL.
    21. Managi, Shunsuke & Opaluch, James J. & Jin, Di & Grigalunas, Thomas A., 2006. "Stochastic frontier analysis of total factor productivity in the offshore oil and gas industry," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 204-215, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:hepoli:v:123:y:2019:i:9:p:833-839. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu or the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/healthpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.