Abstract
Beyond language: healthcare professionals’ perspectives on communication and healthcare access challenges among migrants and war refugees in the host country – a pilot study
Department of Children and Adolescents Health, Institute of Mother and Child, Warsaw, Poland
Department of Social Medicine and Public Health, Medical University of Warsaw, Poland
Students’ Scientific Circle of Hygiene and Prevention, Department of Social Medicine and Public Health, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
Praski Hospital, Warsaw, Poland
Military Institute of Medicine – National Research Institute, Warsaw, Poland
Międzyleski Specialist Hospital in Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
Department of Health Sociology, Education and Medical Communication, Institute of Mother and Child, Warsaw, Poland
Department of Population Health Monitoring and Analysis, National Institute of Public Health NIH-National Research Institute, Warsaw, Poland
Family Medicine & Primary Care Review 2026; 28(3): 231–242
Background
Migrants and war refugees (MWRs) face distinct health needs and multiple barriers to healthcare access. Recent research from both MWRs’ and healthcare professionals’ (HCPs’) perspectives has advanced conceptual frameworks to better understand disparities in access to care.
Objectives
This study aimed to: (1) Identify key healthcare access barriers, including communication challenges, and potential solutions for MWRs in Poland from HCPs’ perspectives, and (2) evaluate the applicability of Levesque et al.‘s conceptual model of healthcare access to conflict-displaced communities.
Material and methods
A quantitative web-based survey on barriers to healthcare access, including communication-related challenges, was conducted between April and August 2024 among HCPs’ providing care to MWRs in Poland. Using the Levesque model, HCPs rated five health system dimensions and corresponding individual MWR access abilities on a 1–7 scale, with scores ≥ 5 indicating barriers to health services.
Results
This study involved 135 HCPs, mainly nurses (79; 58.5%) and medical doctors (37; 27.4%), with 89.6% being females. Communication difficulties with patients from migrant and refugee backgrounds were reported by nearly two-thirds of respondents (85; 63.0%). Healthcare access for conflict-displaced people was found to be inadequate across all Levesque framework dimensions: approachability (63.7% of respondents), acceptability (63.0%), availability/accommodation (28.1%), affordability (55.6%), and appropriateness (77.8%), as well as the corresponding abilities to perceive (71.1%), seek (50.4%), reach (51.9%), pay (60.0%), and engage (79.3%), reflecting challenges MWRs may face in accessing health care.
Conclusions
Our findings underscore the need to implement tailored solutions, including strategies to improve communication, to enhance healthcare access for MWRs and ensure that no one is left behind.
Keywords
transients and migrants, communication barriers, healthcare disparities, delivery of health care, healthcare facilities workforce and services
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